CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (January 03, 2007)
A top official in the Department of Education on Nevis issued a call to students on Nevis to push themselves beyond their comfort zone and to work towards the incentives offered by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) and the Nevis Island Administration.
Mrs. Jennifer Hodge, Principal Education Officer on Nevis made the call recently when she gave an update to the Government Information Service on changes made in the regional examination.
“Government is offering full scholarships in areas of need such as in Mathematics, Science and in particularly Chemistry and Physics, in the technical/vocational areas including technical drawing and metal works,” she said.
Mrs. Hodge noted that Nevisian students had made their mark and had a record of excellence and it was important that they continued to receive continued encouragement and support to strive for excellence.“We must laud the efforts of those who remain focused and produce excellent results even as we aggressively work on those who fall through the cracks,” she said.
In 2002, Nevis captured the award for Most Outstanding School for the year in the Region and subsequently the Most Outstanding School for that year went to the Charlestown Secondary School.
In 2004, the award for the Best Candidate for Business Education was introduced and a student from Nevis captured the award, thus earning the distinction of being the first person in the Region to achieve this award.
In the May/June examinations of 2006, Nevis again recorded its name in the annals of CXC’s when it captured two of the eight awards in Business Studies and Technical/vocational Studies. Nevis returned the best performance in Business Studies in the Region in two of the three years that the award had been offered.
Meantime, Mrs. Hodge also spoke of the introduction of the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) in May/June 2007, a competency based approach examination. Candidate’s generic competence would be examined in the areas of problem solving; informed decision making; management of emotions; working in groups; dealing with diversity and change; handling conflict and developing positive self concept.
The examination would also encompass subject specific competencies for their ability to communicate orally and in writing; Mathematical literacy; scientific literacy and social and citizenship skills.
Mrs. Hodge also took the opportunity to urge teachers on Nevis to make application for available positions of assistant examiners, since the Council had lost a number of experienced examination markers.
“Council has lost a number of experienced markers so it has become necessary to increase the number of competent examining personnel in order to successfully complete marking in the stipulated time.
“In view of this, I make a special appeal to teachers with at least a first degree to apply as assistant examiners, for this experience can only benefit our students,” she said.
According to Mrs Hodge, the actual marking of the annual May/June examinations is held from July 03-21 and involved 170 Examining Committee members, 548 examiners and 2, 903 assistant examiners.