Ministry of Education

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Chairman of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), Professor E. Nigel Harris (left), makes a presentation to veteran educator and former President of the Jamaica Teachers' Association, Faye Saunders, during a function, held at the Hilton Kingston, today (July 15), to celebrate 30 years since the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) was first offered. Mrs. Saunders was among a group of persons who were recognised for the service they gave to the CXC during its early years.

The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is an institution, of which the Caribbean can feel proud, Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, Jasper Lawrence, said today (July 16).

"The CXC has helped to leapfrog the Caribbean Community from external examination bodies, for setting the standards for secondary education and for measuring the outcomes of secondary education," he said.

Mr. Lawrence was speaking at a function, at the Hilton Kingston, where the CXC reflected on the 30 years since students first sat the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).

The Chief Education Officer, who represented Minister of Education, Hon. Andrew Holness, applauded those who worked to make the examinations offered by the Council a success, particularly in the early days.

Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, Jasper Lawrence, addresses a function at the Hilton Kingston, today (July 15), where the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) celebrated 30 years of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), by recognising the stalwarts who helped to shape the examinations.

Veteran journalist and head of Nationwide News Network (NNN), Cliff Hughes, suggested that schools that are currently doing well in CXC examinations, should use available technology to share their teaching expertise with under-achieving schools.

Mr. Hughes said that the CXC was a successful regional project that represented "the best of us as a people called the Caribbean." He noted that the CSEC has grown from offering five subjects to 30,000 students in its first year, 1979, to testing approximately 150,000 students in 33 subjects in the last sitting of the examination.

However, Mr. Hughes, who was one of the candidates who sat the examination in its first year, said while access has increased over the 30 years, the CXC needs to reflect on ways how it could improve the quality of the results.

Pointing out the disparity between schools that consistently perform well in the examinations and those that do not, he asked: "Why is it that we can't replicate these pockets of excellence across the system by using the technology?"

Members of the Vauxhaul High School Choir, from Kingston, provides entertainment at a function, held at the Hilton Kingston, today (July 15), where the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) celebrated 30 years of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC). At the function dubbed, 'Class of 1979', the CXC recognised the stalwarts who helped to shape the examinations.

He suggested that where teachers have mastered the teaching of a particular subject, those lessons should be video recorded and made available to schools that are weaker in those subject areas.

The ceremony was also held to recognise the work of the 'Class of 1979' - persons who worked at the Council during its formative years. Among those recognised were University of the West Indies Professor, Neville Ying; pioneering Caribbean Historian, Roy Augier; and veteran educator, Faye Saunders.

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