More cheating in CXC exams in 2024

Student posing as another student; cheating using cellular phones; and absenteeism are three major concerns that plagued this year’s Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) examinations.

“Unfortunately, we had this case here, a candidate impersonating another candidate. So, for example, I am going to do the exam for Dr. Blaze, or Dr. Blaze is going to do it for me…you’re finding that they are trying to pass off as another candidate,” Director of Operations at the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), Dr. Nicole Manning said at a press conference in Dominica on Tuesday August 20, 2024.

She was speaking at the CXC’s official results release press conference for the 2024 May-June CXC Examinations.

“…that’s not good…it’s a very serious matter,” she stressed, while noting that the student was identified, disqualified and debarred for two years.

Dr. Manning said there is also the issue of candidates carrying their cellular phones and using it to cheat during examinations.

“We saw a lot of cheating this year…,” she noted, adding that there were 54 incidents this year, compared to 36 in 2023, a number she considers as a big increase.

Manning explained that students have to sign a document admitting that they cheated.

“They have to sign to agree ‘yes, this is what happened’ so we’re not just making it up. The supervisors and invigilators are not making it up. They are telling you, ‘I did this’ as well as they’re caught literally with the phone,” Manning related.

“One candidate said they were ‘Googling’ the question. Unfortunate right, because it’s not something we want to see…ethics, integrity, it’s critical for the fabric of us as human beings.”

She said that in relation to the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), there was an increase in subject and candidate entries, and in relation to the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), there was a decrease in subject entries but an increase in students entries.

The Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) entries saw a reduction in both candidate and subject entries with CAPE and CSEC recording a higher level of absenteeism when compared to 2023, and CCSLC a lower level in absenteeism in 2024 than in 2023.

“For CAPE, we saw a 5 per cent absenteeism rate and unfortunately, this was more than we would have seen in 2023.

“For CSEC we saw an increase likewise, but the rate was pretty much the same, 6.66 in 2024, 6.9 percent in 2023. So, an approximate 7 percent even though we are seeing a slight reduction, it’s concerning to us,” Dr. Nicole Manning said at the three hour long press conference.

She said that visual arts had the highest level of absenteeism and while they are not finished analysing the data, they have identified some of the reasons why candidates have not attended their examinations. Among these are personal emergency, not adequately prepared, death in the family and illness.

Dr. Manning said that persons who may feel they have not adequately prepared should still attempt the exam as they have already paid for it and may remember things that help them through.

“…you have already paid for it so the worst you can get is an unacceptable grade.”