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ITEM 2 : ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

4. The provisional agenda was adopted as is and has been appended to this report.

ITEM 3 : ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE MEETING
HELD IN DECEMBER 2015

5. The report of the meeting held 03 December 2015 in Belize was adopted as is.

ITEM 4 : MATTERS ARISING FROM THE REPORT
NOT LISTED ELSEWHERE ON THE AGENDA

The CXC Qualification Structure

6. It was reported that, as instructed, the CXC had created and disseminated explanatory
videos online to ensure better understanding of the CXC Qualification Structure (CXC-QS).

Review of the History Syllabus

7. It was also reported that the CXC had conducted research viz-a-viz focus groups
across the region which included students, teachers and representatives of tertiary level
institutions. The following reasons for low interest and uptake in the History discipline were
identified:

i. History is perceived as a “boring” subject due, in part, to the way it was being taught
in schools;
ii. Students felt that they were generally studying the same things in history throughout
their high school life;
iii. There is a perception of history as a “dead” subject. That is, the subject did not play a
significant role in the 21 Century careers in which stakeholders have an interest;
st
and,
st
iv. Students felt that in the 21 Century with emerging careers, there were very few
areas that has history as a prerequisite.

8. Professor Cobley, UWI representative, opined that there were two fundamental
misconceptions about the role of History. Essential to the discipline should be the teaching
of critical thinking and the sequencing of the material. He pointed out that, ideally a History
syllabus should embrace not only a Caribbean context but a global context and added that
vital to the capacity of Caribbean people to compete in the 21 Century is a global
st
perspective. Professor Cobley stated that having an understanding of the range of issues in
a historical context is a fundamental part of that as well. He added that history being
marginalized was not unique to the Caribbean and that he would be willing to participate in
any initiative to revitalize the discipline.

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