(JAMAICA GLEANER) – Jamaica was the source of the leak of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Mathematics Paper 2, which was written on Wednesday.
Speaking at a virtual press conference today, registrar and chief executive officer of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), Dr Wayne Wesley said the leak was pinpointed to one location and that the information was subsequently disseminated across various social media platforms, reaching to other Caribbean nations.
Wesley refused to name the parish or examination centre where the breach was found.
He said further investigation was needed to offer specific information regarding the number of countries affected.
While stating that this “entire episode” has been of “great concern,” Wesley sought to reassure candidates that the security of regional examinations was paramount and that their best interest remained at the centre of the organisation’s decisions and processes.
Wesley said that CXC is working with Jamaica’s Ministry of Education in its investigations.
Although the issue has not been referred to the police, he stated that this was still an available option for CXC as investigations continued.
“We recognised that the matter requires a great level of sensitivity [and]confidentiality,” he said.
Arising from the leak, CXC will use a different measure to determine final math grades.
Students’ grades will now be calculated through the use of the scores from the CSEC Mathematics Paper 1 and marks from the School-Based Assessment (SBAs) or CSEC Mathematics Paper 3 – an alternative to the SBA research requirements, a decision which has been communicated to regional ministries of education.
“CXC and regional ministries of education have recognised that candidates have spent months preparing for their mathematics paper 2 examinations. The news of the security breach of the examination has caused much anxiety and concern as a result of the breach and the compromise of the examination paper, as well as the consideration for the mental health and well-being of our candidates and timely release of results along with matriculation requirements, CXC has determined that grades for this examination will be awarded using the modified approach,” he said.
