Dear Editor,
The SN editorial of August 28, referring to the CXC results of the 2020 examinations, states inter alia that “Two days after the release Guyana’s Minister of Education Priya Manickchand challenged the CXC over the discrepancies of the grades which were awarded to students across the country in particular subject areas. Following this intervention, the CXC reviewed the ‘ungraded results’ and grades were assigned.”
The use of words like “challenged CXC over the discrepancies” may lead reasonable readers to the conclusion that the initial results issued by CXC were flawed because of errors or omissions on CXC’s part, and had to be revised after challenges from the vigilant Honourable Minister of Education.
In fact, your own report, in Stabroek News dated 17 October 2021, on this very matter, under the headline, “Over 3,000 CXC results rectified last year after queries – Manickchand”, describes the situation with much greater clarity and accuracy. I quote it here to refresh our memories of what actually transpired.
“Following the Council’s review, Manickchand later announced that in Guyana, the issue stemmed from an internal protocol which went unnoticed. She had said that the Education Ministry did not notice that SBA grades were not submitted and was therefore asking the CXC to factor them into the final grades. Manickchand explained that the unsubmitted SBA grades went unnoticed by the ministry because at the time persons were on leave and other persons who were expected to fulfil their duties did not realise that the SBA grades were never submitted. She further explained that this had gone past the Ministry’s Secondary and Examinations divisions. As a result the grades awarded by CXC were based on the performance it saw.”
The bottom line is that errors in SBA submissions were made and acknowledged by the Guyana authorities and CXC exercised flexibility and consideration to ensure candidates were treated fairly and were awarded the grades they deserved.
Sincerely,
G. N. Harewood
