First a note on abbreviations in the heading and a little beyond. You will notice that the items belong in the realm of education. CSEC is the shortened form for the Caribbean Secondary Examination of the Caribbean Examinations Council (the CXC).
CEE referred to, and still refers to, the Common Entrance Examination administered in Jamaica from 1958 to 1999, when it was replaced by the GSAT (the Grade Six Achievement Test). PEP stands for the Primary Education Profile, which, to use the same verb, replaced the just-mentioned GSAT in 2018.
Then there is the CAPE, the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination, which superseded the GCE (General Certificate in Education) Advanced Level Exam. This was meant to be a gold-star test.
ALPHABET SOUP
And there are additional letters in the educational alphabet soup. MCQs, or Multiple Choice Questions, appeared in the CEE and are part of the PEP, CSEC, and the CAPE. If you are partial to television trivia, you may take part in the SCQ (the Schools’ Challenge Quiz), and if you need financial help, you may approach the SLB or the Students’ Loan Bureau, although, tant pis, too many beneficiaries go missing in action or MIA.
More soup: at the tertiary level, students with American aspirations should familiarise themselves, for instance, with the SAT (the Scholastic Aptitude Test), the IB (International Baccalaureate), the LSAT (Law School Aptitude Test), the GRE (Graduate Records Examination), the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), and the LEC (the Legal Education Certificate) of the CLE ( Council of Legal Education of the Caribbean).
AI IN SBA
All of these examinations and institutions prompt numerous questions, and, sigh, the problems often seem to be several steps ahead of the solutions. Consider, for one thing, the relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and testing by the CXC. Earlier last week, the CXC announced that it would remove the School-Based Assessment (the SBA) portion of some subjects because these school-based elements could no longer be regarded with certainty as independent work by students.
The CXC’s abandonment of some School-Based Assessments is not surprising. Even before the advent of ChatGPT, etc, some university educators recognised that assigned coursework to be done by students independently was sometimes done by third parties offering services for a fee. There were other problems, too, leading some examiners to the view – especially in the post-COVID-19 era – that the examination room (without open books or notes) provides the best means of testing memory skills, writing style, verbal reasoning, mathematical dexterity, analytical ability, and student knowledge.
CONCERNS
Already, however, the CXC’s change in direction has stirred (inevitable) concerns. One is that the replacement for the school-based examination will allow students to carry their pre-cooked notes into the exam room, thus opening the way into the very same problem one wishes to avoid. Presumably, and understandably, the CXC does not wish to chop the School-Based Assessment and replace it with nothing, for that could be perceived as watering down the overall examination, but the replacement component must make sense.
A second problem – identified on Beyond the Headlines – may echo through the halls of Caribbean sociology though ultimately, it may take us around only a small corner. We were, a critic suggested, unconcerned about school-based copying or cheating when well-heeled parents could have assignments done by third parties. But now that AI has lowered the cost of illicit shortcuts for everyone, the CXC has found it necessary to act. True, cheating may now be cheaper than before, but that cannot be what has moved the CXC. The examiners have to abandon tests that have become, or are becoming, largely meaningless in several cases.
Incidentally, I have the impression that the MOE, the Ministry of Education, would like to pursue aspects of the CXC’s decision with the examination body. Irrespective of the regional structure of the CSEC, it is subject to the authority of individual states. The ministry, therefore, has the right to request specific and general information and to receive it.
UNCOMMON ENTRANCE
In much the same way, the Ministry of Education should be energetic in sharing its own non-confidential information with the Jamaican populace. For example, if, for whatever reason, nerdy members of the public wish to review old Common Entrance Examination questions, let them do so. These questions may offer academic insights from the past for steps into the future. What significant difficulty could be created if we are given access to the Government’s Common Entrance vaults? We may find, as AI looms threateningly and shines promisingly, that exams of the past can give guidance on the future.
Researchers and scholars should not be denied access to Common Entrance Examination papers – it was, after all, quite an uncommon test that came to the earth’s surface annually with sulphuric intensity. We should also avoid an abbreviated education overburdened with acronyms.
SV is an RP (retired professor) who survived the CEE. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.
