THE Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) will begin awarding Associate Degrees in several academic subject areas. Approval came at the 35th meeting of the CXC in Antigua and Barbuda last week. The Barbados-based council in a communiqué said Associate Degrees will be awarded in nine areas: Business Studies, Mathematics, Environmental Science, Modern Languages, General Studies, Natural Science, Humanities, Technical Studies and Information Technology. This will be based on a cluster of seven Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) Units in each area, giving a total of 70 credits. The Associate Degree provides a coherent programme of study intended to articulate with first degree programmes offered by institutions regionally and internationally, the council said. According to the communiqué, the award of a CXC Associate Degree was agreed in principle by the Ministers of Education at the 11th meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD). However, ministers asked that CXC and the other institutions, including the University of the West Indies, work together to rationalise tertiary level education programmes. The council also approved the award of a Certificate in Business Studies which is based on a cluster of five Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Business Education subjects, including English A and Mathematics as compulsory subjects. This certificate will be in addition to the CSEC certificates currently awarded in individual subjects, it said. The certificate will provide greater focus on achievements of persons, both in-school and out-of-school, in a cluster of subjects appropriate as a foundation for further studies in the subject areas and for entry in the labour market. It will also serve to inform employers about the appropriate skills, competencies and attitudes which are most useful in an office or business environment and to guide persons in selecting relevant subjects in the CXC examinations to match job requirements, the council said. A business plan for the period 2005–2007 which builds on the council’s strategic plan (2002–2004), gives the developmental priorities of the organisation. With regard to providing technical assistance, the council has resources and expertise which can be accessed by participating territories to enable them to develop and enhance capacity for curriculum development, measurement and evaluation, examinations administration and data analysis. The council noted significant achievements in the 2004 examinations for CSEC and in CAPE. CSEC examinations are offered in January and in May/June. Eleven CSEC subjects were examined in January, 19,228 candidates (eight per cent more than last year) sat the examinations and there were 30,069 subject entries, of which 61.5 per cent achieved Grades I to III. For the May/June examinations, 33 subjects were examined, 132,174 candidates sat the examinations and 486,652 subject entries were received. Sixty per cent of the subject entries at General Proficiency, 61 per cent at Technical Proficiency and 29 per cent at Basic Proficiency achieved Grades I to III. For CAPE, 45 Units in 27 subjects were examined; 9,620 candidates sat the examinations and 30,829 Unit entries were received. One thousand six hundred and sixteen Unit entries achieved Grade I and 81 per cent of the Unit entries achieved Grades I to V. CAPE was introduced in 1998 and this year 14 territories entered students for the examinations. Two new syllabuses for CSEC: Human and Social Biology for examination in May/June 2005 and Economics for examination in May/June 2007 were approved. The council, established in 1972, comprises representatives of the University of Guyana, the University of the West Indies, governments of the 16 participating territories and the teaching profession. The CARICOM Secretariat and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat have observer status. CXC has a regional mandate for the development of syllabuses and the preparation and administration of regional examinations. The 35th meeting was held at the Jolly Beach Resort, Antigua and Barbuda on December 3. Chairman of the council, Professor Kenneth Hall, in his opening remarks, paid tribute to teachers, other educators and the many persons who worked tirelessly in those countries affected by hurricanes, earthquakes and floods to ensure that children taking examinations could attend classes as soon as possible. Also at the opening ceremony of the meeting of the council, on December 2, awards were presented to the top candidates in the May/June examinations for the CSEC. The top candidate overall was Kamal Wood from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. He also received the top award for Humanities. Other awards went to Daniel Thomas of Jamaica for Sciences; Kamala Swanston of St. Kitts and Nevis for Business Education; Donrick Slocombe of Grenada for Technical and Vocational Education; Emma Chapman of Barbados for Visual Arts 2-dimensional piece; Demekos Williams of Turks and Caicos Islands for Visual Arts 3-dimensional piece; and Lianna Baboolal of Trinidad and Tobago for the best short story. Reprinted from Guyanachronicle.com