Update for the Education Sector (COVID-19)
Update for the Education Sector (COVID-19)
As the global village implement measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, the Ministry of Education, Youth, Culture, Social and Library Services supports our local efforts to ‘flatten the curve’, stem the spread of the virus, and protect the lives of the people of these beautiful shores. The Education sector is please to report that our children are continuing their formal learning experiences through access to quality learning opportunities using online learning portals/platforms supported by video conferencing capabilities being used to enable teacher-student and student-student interaction in virtual classrooms while maintaining physical “Social” distancing.
In addition to ongoing teaching and learning, the Ministry is pleased to announce an alternative approach to the assessment of learning for our children who are scheduled to complete their formal high school education in July 2020 and those children in Form 2 who are scheduled to write the Social Studies paper for the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) programme.
The Caribbean Examinations Council has proposed a revised examinations strategy to yield valid grades and minimize the disruption to the education system during these unprecedented times. Consequently, the Council has made the policy decision to offer a modified examination process as follows:
- Administration of at least one common paper (Multiple Choice Assessments);
- School Based Assessments (SBAs) and Paper 032s (Alternative to SBA) for private candidates; and,
- Award final grades based on the moderated SBAs and Multiple Choice Papers.
The following are exceptions to the aforementioned process where candidates will be required to complete additional components:
- Modern Languages (Spanish, French and Portuguese)
- Human and Social Biology
- Visual Arts
This strategy will employ the e-Testing modality (online and offline) in order to reduce the examinations administration processing time resulting in the shortest turn-around time for marking and the release of examination results. In addition, it will provide an opportunity for the timely presentation of grades to facilitate matriculation to higher education or to access employment. This also minimizes disruption to the 2020/2021 academic year.
While the proposed revised administration schedule for the May/June 2020 examinations is July 2020, we continue to be guided by national protocols across the region.
Students and teachers in high schools are encouraged to utilize the CXC Learning Hub – our e-Learning platform that provides learners and instructors with a single access point to multiple resources geared towards exam preparation. The e-Learning hub is available at: learninghub.cxc.org.
The Ministry of Education notes the decision of Cambridge and Pearson|Edexcel to cancel the May/June 2020 sitting of the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examinations. Cambridge International will give an update on 31st March 2020 about how students will be assessed. Pearson|Edexcel will update their strategy as soon as this has been agreed. What ever happens, both examining bodies have given their assurance that they will use a process that is appropriate and fair.
Primary and high schools across the country continue to provide a virtual learning experience for their students. In the absence of virtual learning experiences students are working their way through lessons that were given to them in take home packages. Some teachers are being innovative in use of Zoom and other video conferencing apps to host live sessions for their students and to give individualized assistance where necessary. Teachers at one of our primary schools have also been facilitating sessions for to help parents with accessing the online platforms, uploading assignments and giving tips on how they can support their children through the curfew.
The Department of Education has collaborated with the Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence to facilitate psychosocial help for parents and students who may need it during the curfew.