GTU urges education officials to stick to deadlines to avoid CSEC, CAPE results discrepancies

General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) Coretta McDonald has said that deadlines must be adhered to moving forward to avoid the discrepancies that occurred with the results from the 2020 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

Following the Caribbean Examinations Council’s release of the reviewed 2020 CAPE and CSEC results, McDonald told this newspaper that going forward, Guyana has to make sure that the scores are correctly entered and stick to deadlines. She added that students who might be lagging behind with handing in the work need to be encouraged to do so and the work needs to be checked and completed so that scores can be submitted. Additionally, she said that the work has to be presented to show that it was actually done.

As for the grades themselves, McDonald said that disappointments are inevitable but it was a learning experience for Guyana and the other territories where students wrote the exams.

In September of last year, the Council released the preliminary results for persons who wrote its exams. Following the release there was a demand for the council to explain the below average grading that was seen for many countries. The different education ministries reached out on behalf of students. For Guyana, it was revealed that among the many factors resulting in the grades awarded to students was the non-submission of scores. This led to the ministry then asking for a review of grades for students who received no grades or low scores.

Additionally, the Council changed the structure of its exams due to the coronavirus pandemic and the effects it had on the education system. This led many to believe that the grades awarded might not accurately reflect the results for some students.

However, the examination body after suggesting that persons who want their grades to be reviewed make a request at a cost (initially US$30 and later reduced US$15), disclosed that it has done a review of 80% of candidates’ results. In a release last week, the Council explained that the results released in September were the preliminary result and for some persons the results were bound to change. It further said it would be refunding persons who paid for a review.