Students will not re-write CSEC Math Paper II; leak originated in Jamaica

Students will not need to re-write the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Math Paper II exam following a leak of the paper on May 17, according to the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC).

Following an investigation, CXC has identified that the leak originated from an examination centre in Jamaica.

Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of CXC, Dr Wayne Wesley, during a press briefing via Zoom on Friday, said Jamaica was identified based on CXC’s enhanced security measures that were specifically put in place for when they are breaches.

Dr Wesley did not identify who was responsible for the leak but assured that all exam papers have been removed from the centre.

“The security measures which CXC has put in place has led to us locating the country as Jamaica and the examination centre there where the leak originated,” Dr Wesley said.

Given that students spent months preparing for the exam and understandably the stress brought on following the leak, CXC has taken a decision to only grade students based on Paper I and the School-Based Assessment (SBA).

Meanwhile, Dr Wesley reassured students that the security of these regional examinations is paramount and that their best interests continue to be at the center of the organisation.

“We are in the process of right now conducting regional audits of all our local operations to ensure they conform to our security protocol,” Dr Wesley said.

With concerns that a similar breach can reoccur, CXC said while it is able to administer the exams electronically, it will have to wait for the entire region to be ready for this.

“We are trying to get the region ready for full electronic testing, in fact, this year we are capable of doing all our multiple choice electronically,” Dr Wesley noted and said they will continue to work with the education ministries to have the exams done electronically.

In Guyana, Education Minister Priya Manickchand offered reassurances for the strict system locally to guard against such eventualities. She said the government has invested heavily to ensure these documents remain safe and insisted that leaks are highly improbable.