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Workshops/Training

10. During 2017, many territories hosted workshops and teacher training exercises to
address administrative or subject specific issues. Belize reported that Local Registrars
workshops as well as Teacher Orientation Workshops were conducted during the period August
9 – 11, 2017. Jamaica had also developed initiatives to improve performance in schools with
professional development activities planned for Heads of Departments and teachers to ensure
continued improvement in students’ performance. Students would also be engaged in day
camps, which would provide examination practice. St Vincent and the Grenadines reported
having held a number of subject specific workshops over the 2016 – 2017 period as well as a
two-day CXC-Notesmaster workshop.

Major Issues and Concerns

11. The administration of the 2017 examinations generated many issues and concerns.
Barbados and Jamaica expressed concern about the way in which the information on changes to
the structure of examinations was communicated to stakeholders. Jamaica in particular was
concerned about the timeliness of the communication regarding changes and the expectations of
the CXC that the stated deadlines would be met.

12. Trinidad and Tobago listed a number of issued experienced with the CVQs®. Among
them were the late receipt of the results; voluminous paper work for teachers; non-receipt of
CVQ® Annual Audit reports for 2015, 2016, and 2107; and challenges registering students for
some occupational standards on the CXC ORS.

13. Electronic submission of School-Based Assessments (SBA) was a described as a major
challenge. Among the issues presented were the cost of scanning, preparedness of teachers to e-
mark SBAs, technical challenges and the practicality of e-submission of Visual Arts 3-D
production pieces. In Barbados, the SBA as part of the assessment for all subject areas was of
major concern. Stakeholders felt that while SBAs might be essential in some subjects, “forcing”
it into other subject areas was burdensome for the teachers responsible for those subject areas.
The preparation of SBA samples in digital format was seen as a burden in Trinidad and Tobago.
Challenges in that country ranged from untimely upload of updated forms to difficulty logging
into the ORS.

14. E-testing elicited major concerns in some territories. Barbados and Jamaica reported that
they were not fully ready for e-testing. The Barbados Ministry of Education had retained the
option for paper-based examinations since the requisite infrastructure to accommodate e-testing
at the national level was not available across all examination centres. In Jamaica, many private
candidates did not have access to the Internet and there were expressed concerns about the

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