(Jamaica Gleaner) COME NEXT year, the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) will mark all examination papers electronically, beginning with the January Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations. Electronic marking or e-marking will then be done for all subjects being sit in the May/June 2015 CSEC and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).
This was announced yesterday by CXC’s new registrar, Glenroy Cumberbatch, at the closing of the council’s 46th meeting at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in St. Andrew.
“In January, none of our papers will be marked face to face. All of them will be marked online by markers in their own homes. Papers will be sent to them electronically. They will download what they have to mark, mark it, then send it back up,” he stated.
“Hopefully, in the next three years, all of our papers will be done electronically for both the January and June exams.”
TESTING SUCCESSFUL
Expressing confidence in the security of e-marking, Cumberbatch said the system was tested for the first time with some of its examination scripts for this year’s papers and it was deemed a success. Some 661 e-markers participated, marking 11 papers from seven subjects, which produced 108,000 scripts and 2.29 million images.
Additionally, he said, by the second quarter of 2015 the new e-authoring tool now being developed will be implemented to allow for items to be submitted electronically.
CXC is also adding new subjects as part of its syllabus development, in order to position itself to meet the growing demands of a dynamic workforce.
At the opening ceremony at the University of the West Indies on Thursday night, 16 students from three Caribbean countries – Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago – were awarded for outstanding performance in CSEC and CAPE. Five of the eight awards for CSEC went to students from Guyana, two from Trinidad and Tobago and one from Jamaica. While six of the eight awards for CAPE went to students from Trinidad and Tobago and two to students from Jamaica.
