BELIZE CITY, Mon. Dec. 14, 2020– Students across the country who wish to sit the CXC exams in 2021 are experiencing a great degree of anxiety and uncertainty as they try to decipher what the circumstances for the sitting of these regional exams will be in light of a pandemic that has reshaped all aspects of education and that might still be having an effect on the country and the region next year.

As previously reported, there were huge variations in the exam scores of students who took the exams that did not match score patterns, norms and averages. While the Caribbean Examination Council is still trying to understand the root cause of this, exams for the upcoming year are set to proceed as scheduled, and the Ministry of Education has extended the deadline for CXC registrations, which was initially December 9, 2020.

With this announcement came another startling revelation — that the CSEC Examinations Grant would only be covering three exams this year (including English A and Mathematics), rather than the usual six that the grant previously funded. This raised concern for many parents and students, as Belize continues to grapple with the effects of a staggering economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the additional costs of the exams and the current academic shortfall of Belizean students who are struggling to cope with distance learning, the Ministry of Education has urged parents to register the students only for exams that they are prepared for.

On Friday, December 11, 2020, after the inaugural opening of the National Assembly, Minister of Education, Hon. Francis Fonseca, confirmed that the grant will in fact only cover half the number of CXC exams that it previously financed. Fonseca stated that his ministry and the Caribbean Examination Council have been in constant communication and that they have asked the council to postpone the usual sitting period for CXC’s from May-June to June-July next year.

His comments on the matter are as follows:

“We have a legal obligation to make the CXC exams available to our students in Belize. We have worked with CXC regional to extend the deadlines for everything, for registration, the deadlines for the exams, the deadlines for the SBAs and the content of the SBAs. So it is an ongoing process. It is a very important issue, but it is an ongoing process.

“Even today, this afternoon, the Ministry is having further consultation with BAPPS and the BNTU on this issue so that we can come up with more specific deadlines in terms of the commitment that we want to meet.

“But we have made a decision that we want to make the CXC exams available for those students who need to take them, who want to take them. We have a legal obligation as a member of CARICOM to do so. So that is what we are doing.

“But we are also sending a very clear message for our students. It has been a very challenging and difficult year, so we are pressing and sending a strong message to our students and their families. Do not take on more than you can handle. That is very, very important. Students should not be taking fifteen CXCs, or twelve CXCs. You need to take on what you can handle during this very difficult time, because you have not had an opportunity to have face-to-face instructions,” he said.

While Fonseca is assuring the people that the Ministry is trying to push for students to have more concrete deadlines, many parents have expressed their concerns that given the unprecedented and uncertain climate, it seems almost impossible to know what next year will bring for their children.