by Kevon Browne
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN) – On Wednesday, 17 May 2023, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC®) shared that the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC®) Math Paper 02 was leaked and launched an investigation.
During a press conference, Dr. Wayne Wesley, Registrar and CEO at the CXC, shared that the leak originated from Jamaica.
“The security measures which CXC has put in place has led to us locating the country as Jamaica and the examination centre there where the leak originated. In discussions with the Minister of Education, Youth, the matter will be dealt with following CXC’s security protocols.”
As a result, the CXC has decided to scrap CSEC® Math Paper 02 in light of the leak.
“CXC and regional Ministries of Education recognise that candidates have spent months preparing for their mathematics paper two examination. The news of the security breach of the examination has caused much anxiety and concern. As a result of the breach and the compromise of the examination as well as consideration for mental health and well-being of our candidates and timely release of results along with matriculation requirements, CXC has determined that grades for this examination will be awarded using the modified approach. The modified approach entails assessment of the School-Based Assessment, which includes Paper Three and Paper One. which is the multiple choice paper. This decision was communicated to the regional Ministries of Education in our meeting this morning (May 19).”
Wesley was asked how extensive the leak was and if it was localised to Jamaica alone. The Registrar did not share any specifics on how widespread the leak was but said the information reached many islands.
“The matter about widespread, I think the information was shared right across social media on various platforms. It [reached] many countries, many reports [were] made about [people] who [had] access to the information.”
CXC did not name a specific person as the leak, but the location was identified, making it possible to narrow down on the local level who was responsible for the leak. However, Wesley said law enforcement was not yet called, and the information was communicated to the Education Ministry.
The Registrar assured the region that CXC is doing what is necessary to help mitigate possible leaks in future. Still, the determining factor is the human element within the security systems of the regional examination body.
“It is important to know that we are constantly monitoring and doing what is required. In this particular case, we have asked that all papers from that centre be removed immediately so that we can continue to guarantee that the papers are indeed protected and prevented from any[one] who [wants] to access those papers illegally. But yes, we have been enhancing, upgrading and putting in additional security measures to help us in this regard. But as I said before, these are all systems that are still predicated on the integrity of human beings; being the person responsible manage these processes and that is of great concern. We can’t necessarily legislate morality, but unfortunately, among us, we do have situations where those traits are not necessarily forthcoming.”
