In a landmark ceremony held in Anguilla during the release of the May/June Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) results, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) officially launched the Caribbean Targeted Education Certificate (CTEC), a groundbreaking modular qualification framework. The launch followed the board of governors’ approval after a pilot program in mathematics, long a historically challenging subject for regional students, delivered exceptional results that far outstripped traditional assessment outcomes.
For decades, mathematics has presented a persistent barrier to Caribbean secondary students: under the traditional all-or-nothing assessment model, only around one-third of test-takers across the region earned passing grades on a single attempt. This outdated system left hundreds of thousands of young people with no formal recognition for the partial knowledge and skills they had gained over years of study, even when they had mastered significant portions of the syllabus. The CTEC framework addresses this flaw by restructuring the full traditional syllabus into smaller, focused, individual learning modules that allow students to progress and earn certification incrementally.
Under the new system, each completed module earns learners a portable, stackable credential that is banked toward a full final qualification. If unforeseen life circumstances interrupt a student’s educational journey, they leave with verified certification for the skills they have already mastered, rather than walking away with no formal recognition. Critically, CXC leaders emphasize that the modular model retains the same rigorous academic standards as the original qualification, simply breaking content into more manageable, assessable stages.
The initial pilot of CTEC Mathematics Module 1 included 2,535 candidates across 15 Caribbean territories and 42 testing centers, spanning nations and territories including Barbados, Jamaica, Belize, the Cayman Islands, and host nation Anguilla. Impressively, 88 percent of participating pilot candidates earned acceptable grades, with only one test-taker across the entire region receiving the lowest possible grade tier. CXC Registrar and CEO Dr. Wayne Wesley noted that this outcome marks a dramatic reversal of longstanding outcomes for mathematics assessment, where barely one in three students have succeeded in traditional single-sitting exams for generations.
Beyond standalone pilot participants, CXC mapped CTEC Module 1 competencies to the existing standard CSEC mathematics syllabus, allowing nearly 35,000 additional candidates from the May/June standard exam sitting to automatically receive the CTEC Mathematics Module 1 credential. In total, almost 70,000 Caribbean students now hold Module 1 certification through this combined evaluation approach. Dr. Wesley highlighted that this initiative has already re-engaged tens of thousands of students who would otherwise have received no recognition for their progress, reigniting their motivation to continue their education.
Dr. Wesley emphasized that a 20th-century assessment model was never designed to meet the needs of 21st-century learners, and that CTEC represents a learner-centered redesign that maintains full academic rigor. He called on regional governments and education policymakers to integrate the CTEC modular framework into national education strategies, technical and vocational training programs, and second-chance learning initiatives, noting that verified module credentials make tangible human capital visible to employers and strengthen regional economies.
The official CTEC emblem was jointly unveiled by Dr. Wesley and Anguilla’s Minister of Social Development and Education Shellya Rogers-Webster, marking the formal integration of the new modular system into CXC’s permanent portfolio of qualifications. Students accessing the CXC student portal will now see their new CTEC credentials displayed alongside their traditional examination results, creating a more comprehensive record of their academic progress and skills.