Education Ministry Clarifies False Allegations of “Secret” 2014 CAPE Scholarships
October 20, 2014: An article published in the Sunday Guardian (dated October 19th, 2014) is under heavy scrutiny by the Education Ministry, as it seeks to clarify the system for the publication and announcement of CAPE scholarship awards.
This in a press release from the Ministry following “misleading allegations in an article published in today’s Sunday Guardian (dated October 19, 2014) regarding this year’s CAPE scholarship awards”.
According to the press release the article questioned the timing and transparency of the publication and announcement of these awards, “without seeking due clarification from the Ministry, in keeping with good and unbiased journalistic practices”.
The release further stated that the Ministry wished to put on public record facts regarding the issue.
They were listed as follows:
* The determination of CAPE scholarship awards is made following the receipt of the Merged CAPE Databases for 2013 and 2014 and Standard Scores from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and not only from the results of the 2014 examinations, as students usually write examinations over two years (Unit I and Unit II). The Merged Databases were received from CXC on Monday 15th September and the Standard Scores on Tuesday 7th October, 2014 following which, the list of scholarships was finalised by the Scholarship Committee and promptly released on Thursday 9th October, 2014.
* There has not been any change in the criteria for the award of scholarships in 2014 nor in the process used for the release of results
* The criteria for the award of CAPE scholarships have been available to all principals, teachers, students and the general public.
* The release of the list of names of scholarship winners has always been sent to principals for dissemination to students before being released to the media.
* This year, this longstanding process was followed, as per usual. All eligible students in the ten subject groups including Science, Technology, Business and Environmental Studies have been considered and scholarships awarded to persons who have met the established criteria, which resulted in an increase in the number of students to 447 in 2014.
* The results have simply indicated an improvement in the performance of students in CAPE, as well as all other levels this year.
“The Ministry of Education views all claims otherwise as a deliberate attempt to create mischief and undermine the tremendously great and dedicated work of students, principals and teachers of all schools winning this year’s scholarships, as well as the hardworking and dedicated public servants at the Ministry of Education who have greatly contributed to collating these results of such tremendous accomplishments of our students, which speak to our collective national pride,” stated the release.
Reference was also made to an article published by the said newspapers on August 15th, 2014 (written by Kalifa Clyne http://m.guardian.co.tt/news/2014-08-15/minister-2014-cxc-results-best-results-ever).
Clyne was quoted as having written “Education Minister Tim Gopeesingh says this year has produced the best examination results in T&T’s history. Speaking at a post-Cabinet press conference yesterday at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair, Gopeesingh spoke about the results of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC). He said there had been improved results in both units of the CAPE exam as compared to 2010. He said unit one of the CAPE exams, which was taken by 8,245 candidates saw over 65 per cent of students obtaining grades one to three, while over 93 per cent of students achieved grades one to five. He said that was the first year a digital media exam was written. Students achieved greater than 90 per cent scores in 19 out of the 25 subjects in the exam, he said.
“There has been an incremental improvement in academic importance since 2010,” he added. Gopeesingh said that 93.1 per cent of students who wrote unit two of the exam got grades one to
five, with 68.1 per cent of students achieving grades one to three. “The performance in CAPE continues to improve and get better each year,” he noted.
He announced that of the 21,829 people who did CSEC, 64.6 per cent received grades one to three. “Almost two out of every three students writing the exam received grades one to three,” he said. Gopeesingh also said there was a significant increase in mathematics, with the 55.2 per cent of students passing the subject this year as compared to 41.9 per cent in 2010. He said the improvements were due to the hard work of teachers and principals as well as direct intervention by the ministry. “This is the best performance that we have had in this country, in all three exam areas, the SEA (Secondary Entrance Assessment), the CSEC and CAPE,” he said.”
The Ministry of Education would therefore like to assure the general public that the award of scholarships to students in 2014 was transparent and based on clearly established criteria, as has always been the case, and especially so from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The release further invited the public to peruse the Ministry’s website, our see us on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter, where information information can be accessed on the Ministry’s policies, programmes and initiatives, as well as access the Minister’s speeches and news releases, including the video of October 9th’s Post-Cabinet Briefing, wherein the 2014 Scholarships were announced.