Seven Years, 80,000 Signatures, and Still No Major CXC Reform

CARICOM’s Moral Contradiction: Pursuit of Justice Abroad, Perpetuating Injustice at Home

A Seven Year Pattern CARICOM Can No Longer Ignore
For seven consecutive years, from 2019 to 2026, CARICOM students, parents, teachers, and civil society have been pushed into a role they never sought: petitioners pleading for what should be a basic right—fairness from the region’s examining body and the CARICOM political leadership responsible for its oversight. 80,000+ signatures across multiple petitions reveal a pattern policymakers can no longer dismiss. The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), once a symbol of regional pride, has become the subject of repeated public outcry—consistent, widespread, and deeply instructive.

2019: The First Shock to Public Trust
The first rupture came in 2019, when the CSEC Mathematics exam was compromised by widespread cheating. Videos circulated of students openly using mobile phones during the exam. Parents and teachers were stunned—not only by the breach, but by uneven invigilation and the absence of a decisive regional response. Petitions emerged across several territories demanding a re-sit. It was the earliest sign that exam security, a foundational pillar of public trust, was weakening.

2020: The Collapse of Public Trust and Confidence in CXC’s Grading System
In 2020, confidence in CXC’s grading system collapsed. Thousands of high-performing students—many predicted Grade 1s—received unexpectedly low or failing grades. Teachers with decades of experience could not recognise the results before them. A petition with more than 19,000 signatures demanded a full review, followed quickly by another. The message was clear: the public would no longer accept opaque processes or unexplained outcomes.

Approximately 20,000 students were negatively affected, many experiencing severe emotional distress. Most saw no justice. International testing experts later identified grade compression—a statistical or algorithmic error that disproportionately harmed high achievers—as the likely cause. The region was embarrassed by the lack of care exhibited by public communication and the final grading, especially when compared to the UK’s swift, compassionate response to a similar crisis.

2021: A Region in Crisis, Yet a CXC Exam System That Refused to Adapt
By 2021, CARICOM was still battling the pandemic. Students faced lockdowns, financial hardship, illness and death within families, digital inequities, and the trauma of the La Soufrière eruption. Yet CARICOM approved CXC’s insistence on maintaining exam structures that ignored these realities. Four petitions—collectively surpassing 30,000 signatures—called for modified exams, extended timelines, and traumainformed decision making.

Teachers’ unions, parent groups, and student coalitions spoke with one voice: the system was not listening. Jamaica’s
Minister of Education publicly championed students’ concerns. UNICEF offices across the region issued a joint statement
urging reconsideration. Lastminute changes again embarrassed the region, especially when compared to global exam
boards that had already adapted their systems to pandemic conditions.

2023: Two Security Breaches and Another Blow to Credibility
In 2023, the region faced two exam security breaches, the most significant being the CSEC Mathematics Paper 2 leak. Within hours, more than 18,000 students signed a petition demanding that the compromised paper be discarded. This was not just a procedural failure—it was another blow to the credibility of the entire examination system.

2024: CAPE Chemistry Raises New Questions About Exam Quality
In 2024, the CAPE Chemistry Unit 2 Paper 2 exam triggered yet another petition. Students and teachers argued that the exam was misaligned with the syllabus, overly weighted toward Unit 1 content, and riddled with ambiguous questions. Nearly 2,500 signatories demanded accountability and a review of the marking scheme. Once again, the public was forced to mobilise to defend fairness. The official response was dismissive, with CXC effectively self-regulating, as it reviewed its own exam.

A Moral Contradiction in CARICOM’s Pursuit of Justice
This ongoing pattern is especially painful when viewed against CARICOM’s global advocacy for justice. Many of our political and academic leaders are respected champions of the international reparations movement, demanding that wealthy nations acknowledge historical atrocities of enslavement and colonialisation, and provide redress. Yet it is profoundly contradictory for us, as independent nations, to demand justice abroad while tolerating injustice against our own children at home.

We cannot credibly advocate for fairness internationally while accepting systemic
unfairness within our education systems.

2026: Cambridge’s TenYear ETesting Plan Shows What Best Practice Looks Like
The contrast becomes sharper when examining Cambridge, the exam body CXC replaced, and its approach to etesting,
the subject of the current 2026 petition. Petition · CXC EXAM JUSTICE FOR CARICOM STUDENTS: JANUARY ETESTING –
Barbados · Change.org

Cambridge has publicly documented a 2023 – 2033 plan: phased rollout, carefully selected subjects, redesigned assessments suited to digital delivery, mock exams, pilot testing, feedbackdriven adjustments, and ICT feasibility analysis. They acknowledge inequity in digital access, so hardcopy exams remain available. The bestpractice model is clear. We should not accept lower standards of competency, care, or communication simply because the shortcomings originate within our own institutions.

A Regional Diagnostic of Systemic Weaknesses
Across these seven years, the pattern is unmistakable. These petitions are not random eruptions of frustration. They are a regional diagnostic—a collective audit of leadership performance of CXC and CARICOM in student care, governance, quality assurance, communication, and crisis management.

They reveal systemic weaknesses:
 fragile exam security
 opaque grading processes
 insufficient stakeholder engagement
 inconsistent crisis responses
 callous communication
 gaps in exam design
 quality assurance challenges
These are not minor administrative issues. They are structural failures that directly affect the futures of CARICOM’s
children.

A SolutionDriven Testament to the CARICOM People’s Commitment to Integrity
Yet the petitions also reveal something powerful: the people of CARICOM remain deeply committed to fairness, transparency, and educational integrity. These petitions are not attacks on CXC or the regional education ecosystem. They are calls to strengthen them. They reflect regional pride, not rebellion. They show that CARICOM citizens expect excellence from CARICOM institutions—and will hold them accountable when they fall short.

These petitions exist alongside constructive recommendations grounded in global education best practice. They are part
of a broader movement for education reform, not mere complaints. The Choice Before CARICOM and CXC Leaders
The question now is whether CXC’s and CARICOM’s leadership will treat these petitions as noise or as data. As irritants
or as opportunities.  As complaints or as catalysts for longoverdue reform.

Frustration is growing—slipping into despair and apathy—as many feel their pleas are ignored. A financially privileged minority is increasingly turning to private, expensive alternatives due to declining trust. This threatens the reputation of CARICOM and undermines the proud legacy of CXC, more than 50 years after its creation.

Education transformation will fail if exam administration issues remain unresolved.
A Final Appeal: Honour the Duty of Care Owed to Our Children
The people of CARICOM—especially our children—have spoken clearly, repeatedly, and constructively. The next move belongs to the leaders entrusted with safeguarding the future of Caribbean education. We implore our CARICOM education authorities to tangibly demonstrate and honour their duty of care (such intent publicly acknowledged verbally by CXC in 2025) in the collective management of these exams. Some are calling for this matter to be made a CARICOM-wide election issue.

How Long Must CARICOM’s Children and Parents Fight for a Basic Child Right: Exam Fairness?

Paula-Anne Moore

Spokesperson and Coordinator

Caribbean Coalition for Exam Redress

Group of Concerned Parents of Barbados