The Caribbean Examina-tions Council (CXC) yesterday expressed its condolences to the family and friends of Guyanese, Dr Desmond Roderick Rodwell Broomes, known to many at CXC as Dr Broomes or “Dessie.”
In a statement, CXC said that Dr Broomes’ passing is a significant loss, not just to his family and friends, but to CXC and the entire Caribbean. It said that he served the region with distinction for over 40 years in various capacities at CXC. At the time of his death, Dr Broomes was a consultant with CXC in the Exam-inations Development and Production Development Division.
Dr Broomes’ relationship with CXC goes back to 1973 when he served as a member of the CXC Barbados National Committee, representing The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. He served in this capacity until 1987.
In 1975, CXC said that Dr Broomes was nominated by The University of the West Indies for membership on the first CSEC Mathematics Subject Panel, which prepared the first CSEC Mathematics syllabus for the examination offered in 1979.
He was later appointed as a Statistical Consultant for Grading in 1980. He served as a Consultant in the then Measurement and Evaluation Division (now the Examination Production and Development Division); and aided the subject panels in determining the modes of examination for new syllabuses.
CXC said that he was later appointed as a consultant to provide technical support and advice on measurement, syllabus development and research to CXC. In this role, CXC said that Dr Broomes assisted in developing a number of the examinations in CXC’s suite of qualifications such as the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Advanced Examination (CAPE), Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) and the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA).
In addition to his consultancy roles, Dr Broomes served on the CXC Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), first as a member from 1979 to 1984; as Chairman of TAC from 1989 to 2013; and as a Consultant to TAC from 2013 up to the time of his death.
He has also served as a co-opted member of CXC’s Governance Committees: School Examinations Committee (SEC), Sub-Committee of the School Examinations Committee (SUBSEC), and Council.
Dr Lucy Steward, CXC Registrar from 1998 to 2008 noted in the CXC release that she enjoyed working with Dr Broomes and benefitted tremendously from his counsel during her tenure as Registrar.
