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Some 35 Rio Claro East Secondary students have now been graded in Principles of Business and Principles of Accounts by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and the majority of them received passes.
This was confirmed yesterday by the Ministry of Education chief education officer Harrilal Seecharan at a media conference at the ministry’s Port-of-Spain headquarters.
In commending CXC for their quick response to the issue, Seecharan said according to a preliminary report received on Monday, it was found that the samples of the students’ work were not done. He, however, added that the respective marks for both subjects were completed and the marks uploaded and their “ungraded” status was revised.
“The other requirement, which is following the submission of the marks, where samples of students’ work needed to be uploaded to CXC for the moderation was not done and hence the reason for students receiving ungraded in those two subjects,” Seecharan said.
“Fortunately for us, copies of those SBAs, the samples, were lodged in the exam section,” he added.
Seecharan said the ministry contacted CXC on Tuesday morning on the issue and by Thursday they got a response “where students’ grades were adjusted based on the samples submitted.”
In terms of who is to be held culpable for what happened, Seecharan said that is currently under investigation.
“Based on the preliminary report and following due process, in terms of clearly establishing what transpired at the level of the school for the non-submission and confirmation of those results and based on that…we would decide what is the next step.”\
Education Minister Anthony Garcia interjected, saying the ministry has established clear guidelines and procedures for SBAs which are prepared at the level of the school.
“Something happened where confirmation was not done…but there is always the possibility of human error.”
When asked if disciplinary action can be taken against the teacher or principal if the error was on their part, Garcia replied: “It is at the preliminary stage and at this stage I cannot say if anyone is culpable, but if it arises certainly we will move to the next stage but I cannot say at this point in time. We can only contemplate that if there is evidence.”
On another issue, Garcia said a number of schools had sustained damage during Tuesday’s 6.9 earthquake and have been put on a priority list by the structural engineer at the Ministry of Works. However, he said the ministry could not say how many schools would have to undergo corrective works until they get a completed report.
He speculated that based on the report, there could be delays in the reopening of some schools at the start of the new school term.