Carib Scope

分类： education

  • CXC invigilators await fees as ministry targets mid-September clearance

    CXC invigilators await fees as ministry targets mid-September clearance

    Across Barbados, more than 900 temporary workers who served as invigilators, supervisors and examiners for this year’s May-June CXC examinations – including the CSEC and CAPE assessments – are still waiting for their earned compensation. The country’s Ministry of Education Transformation has confirmed that while initial payments have already been disbursed, a full verification and auditing process is required before all funds can be released, setting a mid-September deadline for settling all confirmed, error-free claims.

    Permanent Secretary Kim Belle, in an exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY, outlined the complexities behind the delayed payments. She explained that the 900-plus claims do not translate to one claim per worker, as many individual invigilators submitted multiple claims for different exam sessions they oversaw. Claims begin flowing into the ministry in July immediately after the conclusion of the exam period, but automatic payment is not possible: every submission must be cross-checked and audited to ensure the amount requested matches the actual hours worked and services rendered.

    “Processing doesn’t stop when a claim is submitted,” Belle noted. “We have to review every line to make sure we’re paying the correct amount for the work that was actually done. Only after that verification is complete can we move forward with disbursement.”

    While all verified, “clean” claims are on track to be settled by mid-September, a share of submissions contain discrepancies that will extend processing times, potentially into November in the most complex cases. The most common discrepancy involves mismatches between the work hours invigilators reported on their claim forms and the hours logged by senior exam supervisors. Resolving these issues requires reaching out to individual workers for additional confirmation, a process that can involve multiple rounds of back-and-forth communication.

    New invigilators face additional delays for a separate reason: the ministry must first create a new profile for them in its central accounting system before any payment can be processed, adding an extra step that established workers already in the system do not require.

    For many of the unpaid workers, most of whom are unemployed people relying on this seasonal exam work to cover basic living costs, the delay has created significant financial strain ahead of the new academic year. One unpaid invigilator, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed deep frustration with the ongoing holdup and lack of clear communication from authorities.

    “We unemployed people worked all through May and June for these exams, and we still haven’t seen a cent,” the worker said. “Every time we call the ministry or the CXC council, we just get another excuse. We have school supplies and new uniforms to buy for our kids, household bills to cover – what are we supposed to do? The people who process these payments get their full salaries every month, but we check our bank accounts over and over for money that never comes.”

    Belle pushed back on the timeline for the most extreme cases, emphasizing that November only represents a worst-case scenario for disputed claims, and she remains confident that the vast majority of payments will be finalized far earlier. “For the most part, these payments should be completed very soon,” Belle said. “I really don’t want us to have to go all the way to November. Right now, we’re on track to wrap up all confirmed claims by mid-September as planned.”

  • Trinidadian UWI student to participate in Indian satellite-building programme

    Trinidadian UWI student to participate in Indian satellite-building programme

    A young STEM trailblazer from Trinidad and Tobago is making history as one of the select participants in a landmark global space initiative for young women, opening new doors for Caribbean representation in the fast-growing international space sector.

    Nineteen-year-old Kaitlyn Sahatoo, a first-year medical student at The University of the West Indies, departed her home country for India on Tuesday to take part in Mission ShakthiSAT, an all-girls space and satellite technology initiative organized by Space Kidz India that brings together aspiring young engineers from over 100 nations worldwide.

    Sahatoo’s path to the programme began with a lifelong fascination with the cosmos that long predates her university studies. A graduate of Parvati Girls’ Hindu College and a resident of Gasparillo, she previously led her secondary school’s astronomy club, nurturing her passion for space exploration alongside her academic coursework. She first learned about the ShakthiSAT opportunity during a school career fair, and immediately began working through the programme’s rigorous selection process, which required completing 21 self-paced online modules covering core topics ranging from advanced mathematics and astrophysics to practical satellite engineering design.

    Over months of studying outside of regular school hours, Sahatoo dedicated more than 500 hours of work to complete the modules, outperforming most other candidates from her region. In the final selection stage, only three applicants met the strict completion thresholds to advance to the interview round, where candidates were evaluated across a range of key competencies: leadership ability, collaborative teamwork, resilience, ethical reasoning, global citizenship, personal core values, and demonstrated commitment to space exploration. Sahatoo’s exceptional performance earned her the single spot representing Trinidad and Tobago at the in-person 10-day programme.

    During her time in India, Sahatoo will work side-by-side with veteran space scientists and other young delegates from around the world to construct a functional nanosatellite, which will later be launched into low Earth orbit. Looking ahead to her long-term career, the young innovator plans to combine her ongoing medical training with her space technology expertise, with a focus on developing space-enabled solutions for global healthcare challenges: specifically, satellite-powered telemedicine, large-scale disease surveillance, and expanded access to remote healthcare for underserved communities.

    Trinidad and Tobago’s national mission ambassador Donna Scoon-Moses emphasized that this opportunity carries broader significance beyond individual achievement, noting that Sahatoo’s participation will help strengthen the profile of Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean in the rapidly expanding global space economy. Local conglomerate ANSA McAL provided critical financial support for the endeavour, contributing TT$21,500 to cover Sahatoo’s international airfare and all programme-related expenses.

  • Dr Roger Nesbeth appointed UWI Global Campus Director of Human Resources

    Dr Roger Nesbeth appointed UWI Global Campus Director of Human Resources

    The University of the West Indies (UWI) Global Campus has announced a key leadership appointment, confirming that veteran higher education administrator Dr. Roger Nesbeth will take up the post of Director of Human Resources starting August 1, 2026. The appointment marks the culmination of nearly a decade of service with the institution, and years of temporary leadership in the human resources department. A formal press release from the campus highlights that Nesbeth brings an unmatched 43 years of cumulative professional experience spanning education and general management, with 32 of those years focused specifically on higher education administration and human resource strategy.

    Nesbeth first joined the UWI community in 2017, and has held multiple leadership roles across the university’s regional network before his permanent appointment. He has stepped into the role of Acting Director of Human Resources on several occasions in recent years, most recently covering the position from January to February 2025, and again from May 2025 through July 2026. Prior to taking on interim leadership at the Global Campus, he held roles in the Human Resource Management Division and Registry at the UWI Mona Campus, as well as a position at the Regional Coordinating Office of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies based at UWI’s Regional Headquarters.

    Beyond his administrative work, Nesbeth has also contributed to the university’s academic mission. He has supervised graduate research for the Global Campus’ Doctor of Education program, and has presented his work at academic seminars and conferences across Jamaica, the broader Caribbean region, and the international stage. He holds a robust academic background aligned with his new leadership role: he earned his Doctor of Education in Higher Education Management and Organisational Change from the University of Sheffield, a Master of Arts in Heritage Studies and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in History and Social Science from UWI, a Diploma in Human Resource Management from the Jamaican Institute of Management, and an honours teaching degree from Mico University College. His core research interests align closely with his professional work, covering human resource management, higher education administration, organisational transformation, managerialism, and public sector management in post-secondary education.

    In his new permanent role, Nesbeth will lead all human resources operations across the Global Campus, with a core mandate to strengthen the institution’s organizational capacity and advance the university system’s long-term strategic objectives. Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal Dr. Francis O. Severin officially welcomed Nesbeth to the permanent post, praising his decades-long dedication to the UWI community and identifying him as a leader deeply rooted in the institution’s values and mission. The Global Campus Senior Management Team also issued a formal statement congratulating Nesbeth on his appointment, noting that they have full confidence he will deliver meaningful, lasting contributions to the institution’s growth in his new role.

  • 190 students complete ODM Disaster Preparedness Summer Programme

    190 students complete ODM Disaster Preparedness Summer Programme

    One hundred and ninety Grade 3 to 6 students from six primary schools across Dominica have successfully wrapped up the 2026 Summer Disaster Preparedness Programme hosted by the island nation’s Office of Disaster Management (ODM), walking away with hands-on, actionable knowledge that will serve them, their families, and their wider communities for years to come.

    Running from July 13 through August 5, the programme filled a critical gap in youth-focused disaster education for the hurricane-prone Caribbean island. Coordinated by Metin Brumant with support from Wendy Esprit, the initiative was structured to go far beyond the textbook learning common to public safety education. Rather than sticking to static lectures, organisers designed an interactive curriculum that used group discussions, live demonstrations, collaborative team challenges, knowledge quizzes, and creative hands-on exercises to engage young learners. These activities broke down complex emergency response concepts into age-appropriate, memorable lessons that aligned with how children learn best.

    The curriculum covered all major natural hazards that pose a recurring threat to Dominica, including hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. Students walked through step-by-step protocols for appropriate action before a disaster strikes, during an ongoing emergency, and in the immediate aftermath, gaining confidence in their ability to make safe choices when faced with a crisis.

    A core goal of the programme extended far beyond the individual participants. ODM designed the initiative to create a ripple effect of disaster awareness across local communities. Students were explicitly encouraged to share the skills and knowledge they gained with their parents, siblings, friends, and neighbors, with the long-term aim of nurturing a broader island-wide culture of disaster readiness.

    As a component of Dominica’s broader national strategy to boost climate and disaster resilience, the programme targets young people as key change agents. Building disaster awareness from an early age not only empowers children to protect themselves but also creates sustained, intergenerational change that strengthens the safety and resilience of entire communities across the island.

  • ACSOM looks to deepen community healthcare engagement in Dominica

    ACSOM looks to deepen community healthcare engagement in Dominica

    Since its founding on the Caribbean island of Dominica in 2023, the American Canadian School of Medicine (ACSOM), a non-profit medical training institution focused on clinically oriented physician education, has laid out an ambitious new plan to deepen its impact on local healthcare. The organization aims to grow its footprint across Dominican communities through a robust portfolio of public medical outreach initiatives, according to top leadership at the school.

    Dr. Ray King, ACSOM’s interim dean and chief academic officer, who is a U.S.-board certified surgeon, outlined that the institution will prioritize scaling up accessible community health events. These efforts will include regular health fairs, widespread preventive screening camps, and grassroots public health projects, with a targeted focus on tackling widespread chronic conditions that affect many Dominican residents, particularly hypertension and diabetes. These conditions represent major public health burdens in many small island nations, and expanded screening is seen as a critical step toward earlier intervention and better long-term health outcomes for local populations.

    Beyond direct community programming, ACSOM is actively working to forge stronger collaborative ties with Dominica’s existing local medical ecosystem. Dr. King emphasized that the school is eager to build closer working relationships with local practicing doctors, public and private hospitals, and other independent healthcare providers across the island. A key part of this collaboration includes creating pathways for qualified local physicians to contribute to ACSOM’s training and outreach programs, blending local expertise with the school’s educational framework.

    In a personal commitment to deeper local engagement, Dr. King shared that he is currently pursuing a medical practice license through Dominican regulatory authorities. Once obtained, this license will allow him to provide direct clinical care to both ACSOM stakeholders and members of the general public, expanding the school’s ability to contribute hands-on support to the island’s healthcare system.

    Dominica itself also plays a central educational role for ACSOM’s student body, Dr. King explained. The island offers a unique hands-on clinical training environment that lets medical students develop core patient care and clinical skills while gaining first-hand experience of how healthcare delivery operates outside of their home countries in North America. Dr. King drew a personal connection to this model, noting that his own early clinical rotation at Dominica’s Princess Margaret Hospital was a transformative experience that heavily shaped his decision to pursue a career in surgery.

    As a non-profit entity, ACSOM has a stated institutional mission that extends beyond training the next generation of physicians: the school is broadly committed to expanding access to quality healthcare for both local communities in Dominica and underserved populations across the globe. The new expansion of outreach and partnership efforts marks the latest step toward delivering on that long-term commitment.

  • Adult Education Division to showcase skills and creativity

    Adult Education Division to showcase skills and creativity

    Residents of Dominica will soon have a chance to celebrate the hard work and growth of adult learners across the island, as the nation’s Ministry of Education has announced it will open the doors to the Adult Education Division’s much-anticipated Annual Skills Exhibition later this week. Scheduled for Friday, August 28, 2026, the free public event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Adult Education Division’s headquarters located at 22 Kennedy Avenue in Roseau.

    This year’s exhibition will shine a spotlight on the diverse, practical skills that adult learners have built over the 2025–2026 academic year, featuring hundreds of original works and live demonstrations across a wide range of vocational disciplines. Attendees can expect to see projects and presentations from programs covering massage therapy, artisanal pastry making, custom garment sewing, traditional hair braiding, fine carpentry, and many other hands-on skill sets that prepare learners for employment and small business ownership.

    Event organizers note that the annual showcase is far more than a simple display of finished work. Beyond highlighting the tangible technical abilities learners have gained, the exhibition is designed to center the creativity, relentless dedication, and transformative personal progress that participants have achieved over the course of their studies. For many adult learners, returning to education to build new skills represents a major life milestone, and the event creates a formal space to honor that commitment.

    The Ministry of Education is actively encouraging all members of the public to turn out for the event, emphasizing that community attendance plays a key role in supporting participating learners and celebrating the valuable work being done through Dominica’s national adult education initiatives. Beyond celebration, the exhibition serves a broader purpose: it acts as a public platform to showcase the impact of accessible adult skills training, and to reinforce the widespread social and economic value of ongoing skills development and a culture of lifelong learning across all age groups.

  • Christ the King High School Congratulates Top Three CSEC Students for 2026

    Christ the King High School Congratulates Top Three CSEC Students for 2026

    A regional secondary education institution is celebrating the exceptional academic achievements of three standout graduates from its 2026 cohort, who have secured the top three positions in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

    Jenai Emanuel, Daniella Saiegh and Sarah Saiegh have been recognized by Christ the King High School for their outstanding performance, with Emanuel leading the group of high achievers by completing examinations across 12 distinct CSEC subjects. The two other honorees, sisters Daniella and Sarah Saiegh, matched each other’s success by each sitting and passing 10 CSEC subjects, cementing their places among the school’s top performing students this year.

    In an official statement released following the announcement of CSEC results, school officials extended warm congratulations to the three students, encouraging them to continue pursuing their academic and professional goals. “Keep reaching high! Your journey is only beginning, and we look forward to seeing all that you will accomplish,” the institution shared in its public message of celebration, highlighting that the students’ hard work over the course of their secondary education has laid a strong foundation for future success in higher education and their chosen careers.

  • Deaf Students Start New School Year Without Interpreter

    Deaf Students Start New School Year Without Interpreter

    As the 2026 academic year kicks off across Belize, most students arrive on campus brimming with excitement for new lessons, friendships and growth. But for dozens of Deaf high school students, the first week of classes has unfolded in isolation, marked by unmet accessibility needs that expose a long-simmering crisis in the country’s inclusive education system.

    Across districts from Orange Walk to Belize City, parents and school administrators are raising urgent alarms over a chronic nationwide shortage of qualified sign language interpreters, a gap that has left Deaf students locked out of meaningful learning and social connection in their classrooms. Belizean outlet News Five has investigated the growing crisis, which is putting the government’s stated commitment to accessible education to the test.

    At Itz’at STEAM Academy in Belize City, third-form student Jadah Muschamp – who is Deaf – returned to school this year without the dedicated interpreter she has relied on since she enrolled three years prior. When Jadah and two other Deaf students, Maleek and Isabella, joined the school as first-formers in 2024, they shared one full-time sign language interpreter. As third-formers, the students were able to select specialized academic majors: Jadah chose Health and Sustainable Technologies, while her two peers opted for Engineering and Manufacturing. With only one interpreter on staff, the role shifted to follow the two students in their new major pathway, leaving Jadah without support.

    Principal Christine Coc told News Five that school leadership spent months working to secure a new interpreter for Jadah before the start of the term, but their search came up empty. The small pool of qualified interpreters across Belize, combined with unsustainably low compensation for in-school interpreting roles, has left positions unfilled for months. When the school advertised Jadah’s open interpreter position, not a single applicant submitted an application.

    To adapt, Coc says the school has leaned on basic assistive technology to bridge the gap – a captioning tool that transcribes spoken lessons onto a screen for Jadah to read, a workaround that Jadah herself says is inadequate. “Jadah needs far more additional support to process and understand complex classroom material,” Coc explained, adding that as Jadah’s course instructor, she has also adjusted her own teaching to accommodate the gap, but cannot fill the role of a trained interpreter. By the first day of classes, Jadah felt so disoriented and disconnected that she questioned whether she would be able to meet her academic goals, prompting her mother to step in.

    Sophia Muschamp, Jadah’s mother and a career public officer, took an emergency day off from work to serve as an ad-hoc interpreter for her daughter on the first day of term. “This is an emergency for my child – she needs access to instruction just like every other student,” Muschamp said in an interview. “The issue isn’t that there are no interpreters at all in Belize; it’s that the pay they are offered is so low that they can’t afford to leave their current jobs to work full-time with my daughter.”

    For now, Jadah has secured short-term support from an interpreter who works full-time at another Belizean school, Stella Maris, and is currently on leave. But the gap remains unresolved for the long term, and Jadah is far from the only Deaf student starting the year without access.

    In Orange Walk, a first-year high school student faced the same crisis on her first day of term. Her frustrated father shared the family’s experience on social media, and her mother, Areli Alamilla, spoke with News Five about the toll the lack of support has taken on her daughter. “When she got home, she told me she felt completely alone,” Alamilla said over the phone. “She didn’t have anyone to help her navigate the simplest things – introduce herself to classmates, ask where the bathroom is, find where to eat lunch. She told me she doesn’t want to go back to school. When I told her she has to go, she just asked, ‘Who will help me? The teacher doesn’t know sign language, I can’t talk to my classmates, there’s no one there for me.’”

    Alamilla has urged her daughter to return to class while joining other parents in demanding urgent action from the Ministry of Education and school leaders. For Muschamp, the call for change extends far beyond her own daughter: she is pushing for systemic solutions that will address the interpreter shortage for all Deaf students across Belize.

    “I don’t like calling these students ‘special needs’ – we are all human beings,” Muschamp said. “My child is Deaf, that is just a part of who she is. She is fully capable of learning and thriving, she just needs the right support – an interpreter – to do that.”

    News Five reached out to Minister of Education Francis Fonseca for comment on the crisis. In a statement, he acknowledged the barriers faced by families of Deaf and disabled students: “We absolutely appreciate the challenges parents with special needs children face and have implemented many policies aimed at providing greater support to families. Unfortunately, their children require specialized care from individuals with specific training. It is not easy to access and very costly.”

    The crisis unfolding on the first week of the new school year has drawn renewed attention to gaps in Belize’s inclusive education framework, with parents and advocates warning that without targeted investment to train more interpreters and raise compensation for in-school roles, this accessibility barrier will continue to block Deaf students from equal learning opportunities.

  • Education Reform: Can Better Leaders Fix Belize’s Schools?

    Education Reform: Can Better Leaders Fix Belize’s Schools?

    As countries across the globe rethink how to prepare young people for rapidly evolving work and social landscapes, small developing nations like Belize are testing targeted solutions to fix longstanding gaps in their public education systems. A new collaborative pilot program launched this month in southern Belize centers on a simple, transformative idea: sustainable education reform starts with empowered, well-trained school leaders, not just changes to curriculum or classroom policy.

    The initiative is led by BUILD, a Belizean training and development organization founded by Dangriga Area Representative Dr. Louis Zabaneh in 2014. Working in formal partnership with Belize’s Ministry of Education, BUILD is rolling out a 16-week master-level certification course focused on competency-based education (CBE), an approach that prioritizes hands-on skill mastery over rote memorization and traditional test-based assessment. The pilot is open to primary and secondary school leaders from the southern districts of Stann Creek and Toledo, with the first cohort comprising 50 participants split evenly between the two regions, based out of BUILD’s Dangriga operations.

    Dr. Zabaneh outlined BUILD’s decade-long track record of delivering accessible, community-focused training across Belize in remarks at the program’s launch. Prior projects have ranged from entry-level job interview preparation and emotional intelligence workshops to specialized vocational training in partnership with the Taiwanese Embassy and the International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), including popular cell phone repair courses, and advanced training for educators on sustainable human development. This new pilot marks the organization’s first foray into high-level, systemic education transformation work.

    Unlike one-off professional development workshops that fade quickly after completion, the certification program is built for long-term impact. Over 16 weeks, participants receive ongoing one-on-one coaching, structured mentoring, and hands-on support to design and implement CBE-aligned projects tailored to the unique needs of their own schools. Program facilitator Dr. Consuela Godfrey explained that the core goal is to build lasting leadership capacity, rather than just deliver theoretical information. Trained leaders will not only be able to implement CBE frameworks at their institutions and track progress, but also guide and give constructive feedback to their own teaching staff to drive continuous improvement, Godfrey said.

    The program’s phased approach places school leadership first, with plans to expand to broader teacher training once leadership capacity is established, keeping student outcomes at the center of all reform efforts. Dangriga Mayor Robert Mariano expressed strong public support for the initiative, noting that community-wide benefits will follow from investing in local school leadership. He called the launch of the pilot in Dangriga a point of pride for the southern Belize community, emphasizing that the program will directly benefit Belizean residents working to achieve their personal and professional goals.

    To make the program accessible, BUILD has partnered with multiple stakeholders to offset program costs for participants, making the certification far more affordable than it would be otherwise. Dr. Zabaneh noted that this collaborative partnership model will serve as a blueprint for future expansion, bringing together public and private stakeholders aligned on the shared goal of improving educational outcomes for all Belizean students. After the first cohort completes their training and implements their school projects this semester, program organizers will track student and school outcomes over the following semester to measure impact, refine the program model, and lay the groundwork for long-term, systemic improvement across southern Belize’s education system.

  • Understanding CTEC modular assessment

    Understanding CTEC modular assessment

    Recent public debate surrounding the Caribbean Targeted Education Certificate (CTEC) has centered on critical questions around academic standards, grading frameworks, and how the program’s modular assessments count toward the final Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) qualification. In an official clarification from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), Registrar and Chief Executive Officer Wayne Wesley, PhD, CMgr, addresses these concerns head-on, working to clear up widespread misconceptions and give regional education stakeholders a transparent breakdown of how the new system operates.

    First and foremost, Wesley emphasizes that CTEC in no way weakens long-held CXC academic standards. The modular assessment model only changes when and how learning is evaluated and accumulated, not the core knowledge, understanding, and skills that students are required to master to earn a CSEC qualification.

    One of the most persistent myths about CTEC is that modular assessments are less rigorous than the traditional single-sitting CSEC examinations. This claim is entirely unfounded, Wesley explains. All CTEC modular assessments are built from the same syllabi, aligned to the same learning objectives, and developed under the exact same assessment specifications that govern traditional CSEC exams. Even the question difficulty and format match what students encounter in full, traditional CSEC assessments, meaning learners must demonstrate the identical level of knowledge, skills, and competency expected of all CSEC candidates.

    Beyond assessment design, the entire grading and quality assurance process remains unchanged. CTEC exams are marked, moderated and graded using the same rigorous systems that have protected the integrity of CXC qualifications for decades: including consistent examiner moderation protocols, psychometric performance analysis, and standardized grading procedures. The level of rigor, objectivity and fairness that regional stakeholders trust remains fully intact. The only meaningful difference is that students can demonstrate their learning progress in incremental, manageable stages, rather than facing a single high-stakes exam at the end of their course of study.

    CTEC’s grading framework is also not an untested new system, but rather builds on long-familiar structures already used across Caribbean education. The Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) has reported results by individual modules for decades, and CSEC has long used two parallel grading scales: overall subject grades from I to VI, and profile grades from A to F. CTEC adapts this familiar A-F scale to report performance on individual modules, making it easy for students, parents, educators, employers and tertiary institutions to track a candidate’s progress. Under the system, grades A through D count as acceptable levels of module completion, while E and F indicate the student needs additional development to meet the required standard.

    Each grade comes with a clear descriptive definition that provides actionable feedback: A marks excellent mastery of module content, B indicates good understanding, C stands for fairly good command, D is moderate mastery, E reflects limited understanding, and F marks very limited grasp of key concepts and skills. These descriptors give students and teachers targeted insight into performance gaps, enabling targeted interventions to drive improvement before the final certification is awarded.

    Another key point of public confusion has been how modular grades factor into the final CSEC qualification. Wesley makes clear that individual module grades do not constitute full standalone qualifications. Instead, they act as micro-credentials that document a candidate’s achievement in discrete sections of a full subject, and all module grades are aggregated to calculate the final overall CSEC grade. No single module pass counts as completing the full subject; candidates must successfully complete all required modules to earn a final CSEC subject grade. The recognized overall CSEC grade remains the official final certification for the subject, with the modular pathway acting only as a structured, incremental route for students to build up their demonstrated achievement toward that qualification.

    To protect the integrity of the grading system, strict rules are in place to ensure final grades accurately reflect consistent performance across all areas of a subject. Because the final grade is based on results from every required module, a candidate who earns a D in any module cannot be awarded the highest possible overall grade of I in their final CSEC result. This rule reinforces the core principle that outstanding overall achievement requires strong performance across every component of a subject, preserving the value of a top CSEC grade for employers and tertiary institutions that rely on CXC qualifications to assess candidate ability.

    Unlike the traditional single-exam model, CTEC’s modular framework also offers meaningful flexibility for students to improve their performance. If a candidate is unsatisfied with their grade on a specific module, they can retake that individual module following CXC’s standard registration procedures. This lets students target gaps in their knowledge and improve their performance before the final subject grade is calculated, expanding opportunities for student success without lowering the bar for academic achievement.

    Wesley frames the introduction of CTEC’s modular assessment as a deliberate balance between innovation and institutional integrity, aligned with CXC’s core mission to expand access to certification across the Caribbean without compromising the standards that have earned CXC regional and international recognition. The modular approach does not make qualifications easier, reduce required learning outcomes, or lower academic expectations. Instead, it offers students a more flexible pathway to demonstrate mastery of the same syllabus objectives, meet the same performance standards, and earn the same respected CSEC qualification that the region has relied on for generations.

    The only evolution is how students get to demonstrate their achievement: the unchanging high standards that underpin all CXC credentials remain firmly in place. In sum, CTEC represents a model that preserves the rigor and credibility of Caribbean secondary education qualifications while building new pathways to support greater learner success and higher educational attainment across the region.