The Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), following an investigation into a cheating incident in Trinidad and Tobago, has said there will be no re-sitting of exams. Photo: Internet Source

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Dr Marcia Potter, who is also the Deputy Chair of Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) said the Ministry is still awaiting word from CXC whether students in the Virgin Islands may have to re-take the 2019 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) math exam. Photo: VINO/File

A pe­ti­tion was sent out last week in the wake of im­ages sur­fac­ing on so­cial me­dia of stu­dents of Tran­quil­i­ty Gov­ern­ment Sec­ondary School in Trinidad and Tobago post­ing im­ages of what appeared to be the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) math pa­per. Photo: secure.avaaz.org

That’s according to the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), following an investigation into a cheating incident in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Ministry of Education there had fired three invigilators and several exam supervisors, after a video emerged of students of the Tranquility Government Secondary school using their cellphones and copying from each other during the May 15, 2019 CSEC Math exam.

Our newsroom had on May 23, 2019 reached out to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Dr Marcia Potter, who is also the Deputy Chair of CXC, to find out whether students in the Virgin Islands may have to take the math exam again.

However, Dr Potter had said she was yet to receive word from CXC.

“I don’t know. We await word from the Caribbean Examination Council,” Dr Potter had stated.

No re-sit

CXC in a statement on May 31, 2019 said after receiving written reports, examining other material and following due diligence, it appeared that there was no breach of examination papers before or during the time of the exams.

“However, it is clear that there was lapse supervision in some examination centres. That has been addressed,” CXC assured.

“Any irregularities in any centre will be addressed as is done after every examination. As such there will be no re-sit of any CXC examination which has already been taken,” it further stated.

“The Registrar wishes to give the assurance that the principle of fairness will be paramount in our dealings with these unfortunate incidents,” the statement went on.

According to CXC guidelines, exam candidates are not allowed to bring any unauthorised material or devices into the examination room, communicate in any way with each other or indulge in any other form of unfair or dishonest practice.

Penalties for breaching these rules include cancellation of a candidate’s exam papers, disqualification or a ban from writing future exams offered by CXC.

See previous article published May 23, 2019

Education Ministry awaits word on 'possible' CSEC math re-sit

- Permanent Secretary & Deputy Chair of CXC, Dr Marcia Potter said Education Ministry awaiting word from CXC

Students in the Virgin Islands and across the region who wrote the 2019 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Mathematics Examinations are still awaiting word as to whether they would be required to do a re-sit, following an alleged breach of Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exam regulations in Trinidad and Tobago.

CXC investigating breach; Petition launched to re-sit

A petition has also since been circulating on social media seeking to gain major support to have all students across the region re-sit the math exam.

The petition, launched by a person known only by the alias Trevor S, has so far achieved 5,420 of its revised goal of 7, 500 signatures.

Last week, CXC announced that it was investigating a breach in examination security in Trinidad and Tobago, where students were said to have used mobile phones and textbooks during the exam.

“It would be unfair if these students are allowed a free pass, and equally unfair if only selected schools/students are allowed to re-sit a supplementary exam. The extent to which exams could have been scanned and shared, not only nationally, but regionally is unfathomable.

“Students could have been privy to the exam questions earlier than the start time and they could have sent these images on social media to their counterparts in other schools across the country and region. The invigilator also could have further compromised the situation by sharing the exam with other invigilators.

“Given the conditions and circumstances, it is only fair and just that all students in the entire region resit a supplementary mathematics exam which should be done before the end of the exam period, June 6th, 2019,” a summary of the petition read.

‘We await word from CXC’- Dr Marcia Potter

Our newsroom reached out to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Dr Marcia Potter, who is also the Deputy Chair of CXC, to find out whether students in the Virgin Islands may have to take the math exam again.

However, Dr Potter said she is yet to receive word from CXC.

“I don’t know. We await word from the Caribbean Examination Council,” Dr Potter said.

Meanwhile, The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian Newspaper reported today, May 23, 2019 that is unlikely all CSEC mathematics students would be required to re-sit the exam.

‘Unlikely’ all students will have to redo exam

It said a Caribbean Examination Council Technical Advisory Committee is still to assess a report sent concerning an alleged breach of CXC exam regulations, but a source connect­ed to the exam body said it was unlikely that all students would be required to redo it.

“The source said, it was more likely that students of the offending schools would face the possibility of being disqualified and having to redo the exam,” The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian Newspaper reported.