Caribbean Students get reprieve, Education Ministers win appeal for more time until CXCs

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

May 12, 2022 – After an emergency meeting, the Caribbean Examinations Council CXC has resulted in the decision to grant students extra time to prepare, now the regional exam is delayed by three weeks.

That new start date: Monday, May 23, 2022, with results projected to be released in late August or early September 2022. Adjusted timetables were to be published Wednesday, May 4th.

CXC had initially said they would not push back the dates.

However, Education Minister of Jamaica, Fayval Williams had been lobbying for days for an emergency meeting with the Caribbean Community Council for Human and Social Development with the hope of delaying exams because students, she said, were underprepared.

Other countries in the Caribbean added their voices to support the petition for a delay.

Williams welcomed the additional weeks, telling local media, “We could not proceed as normal given the prolonged absence of students from face-to-face classes and the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years. It is only fair that we should give our students a fighting chance to do well.”

The deadline for the submission of SBAs has also been extended by two weeks for all CSEC and CAPE examinations.

The SBA requirements for some subjects have been reduced by as much as 50 percent and candidates will have the option to defer some of these exams to either January or June 2023.