Press Statement by Dr Wayne Wesley, Registrar and CEO of CXC® at CXC’s Press Conference
on Tuesday, 15 April 2025 at CXC® HQ, Barbados
Today, we want to talk to you about CXC’s Duty of Care– the underpinning philosophy and ethos governing how we are reorganizing and improving our operational processes and efficiencies to deliver higher levels of customer service to every CXC® stakeholder.
And here, I define CXC® stakeholders as our student candidates, parents, teachers, educators, policymakers and administrators, regional governments, employers, churches, civil society groups, just about every individual or organisation engaged in the development and preparation of people to be the best versions of themselves and to add value to Caribbean life and society.
May-June 2025 Examinations Sitting
I. Today April 15 marks the official start of the traditional May-June Examinations with the customary oral examinations in the modern foreign languages – Spanish, French and Portuguese.
II. We are pleased to announce that for this 2025 Examinations Session, over 100,000 candidates from across the region have been registered to sit more than 600,000 subject entries. This will be another mammoth undertaking for CXC®, but we are equal to the task. The team has worked hard to ensure that everything is in place for the successful administration of the examinations. I would like to extend my commendations to everyone, particularly to the Examinations Services Division under the leadership of Dr. Nicole Manning. Dr. Manning will later provide us with valuable insights into the planning and implementation of these regional examinations.
III. CXC® remains the pre-eminent examinations, assessment and awarding body of the Caribbean. As the regional standard, we are gratified by the widespread international recognition and acceptance of CXC® certification for admission into higher education institutions.
IV. As we enter the May-June examinations cycle, allow me on behalf of the Board of Governors (Council), management and staff of CXC®, to offer my best wishes to all candidates. This is the culmination of many months of sacrifice, learning, study and preparation. I encourage all of our candidates to apply themselves and to give their best efforts. As you approach your examinations remember to be cool, be calm and be confident. You’ve got this!
January 2026 Session being e-Assessment and Hybrid e-Assessment only
As we continue to execute our digital transformation strategy, specifically as it relates to electronic assessment, kindly note that effective January 2026 all examinations administered in the January Sessions will be offered electronically either as e-Assessment or Hybrid e-Assessment. In situations where candidates are unable to write the examinations electronically, they will be accommodated in the May-June examinations sessions where both paper-based and e-Assessment will continue to be administered. Dr Manning will provide more details on the e-Assessment and Hybrid e-Assessment Strategy.
The Strategic Repositioning of CXC®
As the unique certifying body for secondary education within the Caribbean community, CXC® is seized with the imperative to engage in its own organisation renewal and reorganisation to provide the required leadership and support for education transformation in our region.
●Since December 2023, CXC® has been engaged in a comprehensive strategic repositioning exercise in what is the beginning of the end of the old CXC! This comprehensive strategic repositioning initiative is about transforming for greater relevance and sustainability, and it encompasses three main components as follows:
1.Modernisation of Governance – which involves a review of the CXC® Articles of Agreement to include expanded stakeholder representation, enhanced accountability structures, relevant expertise for prudent oversight and appropriate board organs (committees) to ensure adherence to policy mandates.
2.Organisational Redesign – this speaks to redesigning within a resilient construct to make CXC® fit for purpose in carrying out its duty of care to the regional education system. What this means is a CXC® transforming for greater relevance and sustainability to achieve:
a. Organisational Agility – the ability to respond swiftly and effectively to unpredictable events.
b. Operational Flexibility – being responsive to the needs of stakeholders and efficiently managing resources.
c. Institutional Capability – developing robust governance frameworks and enhancing human capacity.
3.Reimagined Assessment and Certification Philosophy – This calls for the recalibration and refocus of the Council’s system of assessment and certification, embracing flexible and progressive learning and competency-based education in alignment with economic development and social transformation.
How will CXC® accomplish this, you might be wondering?
I. CXC® will be emphasising the acquisition of skills/competencies (social, behavioural and cultural) including prior learning assessment.
II. Redesigning qualifications to achieve optimal balance between content coverage and the acquisition of skills/competencies through various approaches including the signaling of current and future employment and skills demands and modularisation of syllabuses.
III. Expanding the assessment and recognition framework through the development of the Product Innovation Model (PIM) as a robust quality assurance process for validation of certification.
IV. Developing a Longitudinal Framework to systematically address seamlessly, educational challenges from primary to post-secondary or tertiary education.
V. Embracing Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an important advancement of digitalised educational systems that allow for the development of critical and complex competencies not possible with traditional manual or paper-based approaches.
This repositioning strategy aims to enhance our regional impact and global influence, ensuring the provision of relevant and high-quality educational services.
Ladies and gentlemen, much is expected of CXC®, and we will not shrink back in what we have to do. And, in order to be successful, we know we will have to listen more to our stakeholders.
This is a defining posture of the new CXC®. We will listen, engage and work with all our stakeholders- our parents, our students, Governments, policymakers, teachers, educators and all our regional and international partners for greater regional impact, influence while attaining higher levels of global relevance.
We will work with regional governments, policymakers and administrators to ensure that together, we sustainably reform and transform our regional education system.