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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Students who paid for reviews still awaiting answers from CXC
By Tamica Garnett STEADFAST in the belief that the grades issued to him by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) were not what he deserved, 19-year-old Areeb Ali paid to have some of his subjects reviewed with the hope of seeing his grades improved. Ali wrote eight units at this year’s Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE); he believes some of the grades issued to him were unsatisfactory, given his confidence in his ability. However, over one month after applying for the reviews, Ali and many other students who forked out the US$15 per subject, are still awaiting word on what exactly is going on with the reviews of some of their subjects. Ali has already received feedback on two subjects, but he noted that the length of queries CXC is dealing with may be holding things up. “I’ve done reviews in the past for CSEC and I knew it took some time. So in this
Registrar Dr. Wayne Wesley
situation where there was some drama involved, I’d expected it would take some time,” the Queen’s College student explained. However. some students do not share Ali’s patient outlook on the situation. Two students, also from QC, noted that they were informed that their review results would be issued before the end of November. “They told us that we would’ve gotten them by the 20 November. Honestly, I’m really irritated. They dealt with this thing terribly. If I needed those grades to apply
No entry!
LOCAL authorities have restricted non-essential travel in or out of Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), as there continues to be a steady rise in the number of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases within the region. Available statistics show that Region Seven has so far recorded 471 cases of COVID-19, which is eight per cent of the total 5,406 cases recorded nationwide and the third highest of the ten administrative regions. It is for this reason that authorities have decided to restrict non-essential travel in or out of this region from Tuesday, December 1. The restriction will last until December 31, 2020, unless otherwise adjusted by the Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony. According to the new COVID-19 order listed among the gazetted emergency measures, travel shall only be permitted where it is connected to an essential service. Additionally, gatherings shall not exceed five persons and the physical distance of
to university, I’d have to take a year off,” one of the students who asked to remain anonymous, related. Of the 15 subjects she wrote at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Examinations Certificate (CSEC), she said she paid for reviews in five subjects in October, but is still waiting to hear from CXC. She said queries made at the local Exams Division resulted only in her being told that she had to wait for them to call her. Zane Ramotar, who recently exited Upper Six, paid for a review of two of his sub-
–– non-essential travel in or out of Region Seven restricted
six feet among persons shall apply to those gatherings. According to the new measures, the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) shall ensure that the government buildings, landings and means of transportation and conveyances are sanitised. Where the Ministry of Health considers it necessary, it may test any person for COVID-19 and quarantine or isolate and treat any person. “Any person who tests positive for Coronavirus shall be placed in controlled or any other forms of isolation or quarantine as approved by the Minister of Health,” said authorities in the emergency measures. The joint services have been tasked with the enforcement of these measures. And, Minister Anthony, after an assessment of the epidemiological situation in region Seven, may impose any other measure to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hinterland regions have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic, with Regions One recording 848 cases; Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), 180 cases; and Nine
(Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) with 379 cases, accounting for over 38 per cent of the total cases in Guyana. It was reported recently that as part of efforts to improve and increase testing for COVID-19 in hinterland communities, local authorities have sourced 20,000 antigen tests, which will produce results within minutes. As it is now, testing for COVID-19 is done centrally at the National Reference Laboratory in Georgetown. Authorities would first have to acquire a sample from a person suspected to have COVID-19, and then send the sample to Georgetown, where medical professionals will conduct a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test, which takes hours to produce results. Each hinterland community is already equipped with fixed sites for testing, but Minister Anthony said that, in cases where there is a high infection rate in a particular community, a mobile team will be deployed to conduct testing and contact-tracing.
CXC Chairman Professor Sir Hilary Beckles
jects and is anxious to know what exactly is going on. “I’m just on edge. Because it’s like I don’t know if anything has been changed yet. Or if they are going to come back to me with the same nonsense. I had asked one of the teachers that handles [sic] the CXC submissions and stuff, but she said she went over to Exams Division and there was no news for me,” Ramotar said. At McKenzie High, in Region 10, Toneisha Jacobis is also yearning for word on what is going on with her results, one of which
was an “ungraded.” She did not make an official review request with CXC, but her school had made a note with the Ministry of Education about their ungraded students. This year, after modifying its exam marking scheme for 2020, the CXC faced a backlash over results issued and saw an unprecedented number of queries and review requests, particularly for CAPE and CSEC. Most of the issues were “ungraded” results or unsatisfactory grades received by students, and occurred
QC student Areeb Ali is still awaiting word pertaining to the review of some of his subjects by CXC
across several out of the 20 countries where the exams were written this year. To mitigate the situation, CXC registrar Dr. Wayne Wesley, and Chairman, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles had noted during a press conference in October that CXC would be increasing its capacity and putting several other measures in place to handle the queries and reviews in a timely manner. TURN TO PAGE
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