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the out-of-school population has not been catered to in a way that makes sense for them and this
was further complicated with prevailing economic systems.

12. Mr Cleveland Sam, Assistant Registrar/Customer Service and Public Relations, informed
the SUBSEC that the major areas of dissatisfaction for the students, teachers/markers, and
principals group were the handling of complaints and in particular for teachers/markers, the issue
of payment for work done on School-Based Assessments and e-marking. The SUBSEC heard that
with the implementation of the customer service charter there should be significant improvement
in the handling of complaints. The Registrar added that CXC would engage teachers to apprise
them of the value of the SBA in the assessment process.

13. Dr Grace McLean, Jamaica representative, informed the SUBSEC that there were other
organizations making significant inroads with regards to external examinations. Jamaica, in
particular was actively conducting market research and receiving buy in as to the kind of products
being offered. She added that the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MoEYI),
Jamaica was looking at multiple pathways and assessments to meet the needs of Jamaican students.

14. Dr Mclean also informed the SUBSEC that, as it relates to outstanding subventions, a team
of representatives from CXC visited the MoEYI, Jamaica and there was an agreement and
commitment in place for outstanding amounts to be paid. She however suggested that there was a
need for education and clarification on the purpose and use of the subvention paid by participating
territories. Dr McLean opined that that countries that are not a part of the Council may decide to
do CXC examinations and would be asked to pay only an examination fee. The Registrar informed
the SUBSEC that countries which do not form part of the Participating Territories pay the full fee
for examinations services which is twice as high as those paid by Participating Territories.

15. The Chairman enquired whether the auditors had expressed concern about how non-
payment of subventions would impact the CXC. Mr Kemaul Persaud, Director/Corporate Services
informed SUBSEC that until the CXC instituted a plan where a methodology for payment in the
short term was in place, the auditors would not be comfortable that the receivables would be paid.

16. Regarding the customer satisfaction survey, Dr McLean informed the SUBSEC that CXC
was not being viewed favourably by many stakeholders. In addition, the Local Registrar, Jamaica
and examination coordinators had expressed concern about CXC’s operations as it relates to
examinations administration. Dr McLean stated that information from CXC, was reaching
stakeholders in a very ad hoc way and that, in her opinion, is a deviation from what normally
obtains. She also stated that instructions were passed to stakeholders without reference to the
relevant decision making bodies and that such reference served to provide some amount of comfort
that those decisions were made via the established processes. Dr McLean emphatically stated that
where customer service was concerned CXC was not looking good and the organization needed to
revisit its customer service policy and restore the customer service of the organization to its former
glory.

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