Guyana to pay $80M to shift CXC exams
“It is closer to US$400,000,— $80 million in local currency” said newly appointed Minister of Education,
Newly appointed Minister of Education, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine
Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, of the cost incurred by the former ruling administration to shift the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC&rsquo
s administered examinations to allow for the hosting of the May 11, 2015, National and Regional Elections.
He made this disclosure yesterday. According to the senior Education Minister, the sum is currently tentatively approved but it must however, be approved at the level of Cabinet before any payment can be made to CXC.
He added yesterday, “I have to take it to Cabinet and get approval, then I can sign it.” The new government will be tasked with settling this outstanding account with CXC.
Former Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, in defending the move by former President, Donald Ramotar, to announce that date, said that the President was entitled to name that date for the elections.
She had further conveyed that the President’s naming of the date was influenced by the readiness of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to host the elections.
“As far as I understand, all the dates that were given by GECOM that would be possible elections dates given that they themselves are bound by certain timelines…All the dates that they submitted were in the CXC period,” she said. “It was inevitable that we would have faced this slight hurdle which we have crossed effectively.”
Manickchand said that her Ministry was cognizant of the general concerns regarding the examinations timetabled for the same date with the Elections.
She said that her Ministry was always keen to ensure that examinations are conducted in a smooth and
Former Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand
effective manner, and was therefore in consultation with CXC and other stakeholders about what might be best for the candidates.
Moreover, several possible options, she said, were discussed and considered. And according to her too, “at all times, during the discussions and deliberations, the Ministry’s paramount consideration was in the best interest of the candidates.”
Manickchand however, was consistently reluctant to disclose the cost incurred to shift the examination.
Although former Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon, at a press briefing in April said that the cost of shifting the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination and Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examination slated for May 11, amounted to “hundreds of thousands of US dollars,” he claimed that he was unable to give the precise sum.
He explained that the real issue associated with the shifting of the examinations dates, was linked to the reformulation of the examinations since examination papers that were set for May 11, cannot be used locally for the new examination dates in later May and June. Because of the shift, new examination papers and a new set of logistics arrangements were put in place by CXC exclusively for Guyana, Dr. Luncheon added.
CXC Pro-Registrar, Mr. Glenroy Cumberbatch, had said that while assisting CXC member countries to shift the examinations dates is not a challenge to the Regional examining body, the only factor that is usually not immediately known is the cost that will be incurred.
He said that the associated cost to shift the date of the examinations therefore, was one that the Government will have to pay in order to allow CXC to prepare and administer several parallel examination papers for local candidates. He had noted then, that the cost is one that was being worked out between CXC and the Government of Guyana which were in close collaboration