This year’s fifth formers at Elmore Stoutt High School will be the first class required to take tests hosted by the Caribbean Examinations Council.
And they will be better off for it, according to several speakers at a panel discussion held at the ESHS campus on Friday.
The session was part of activities being held throughout the Caribbean celebrating the council’s 40th anniversary.
At the beginning of the school year, Education and Culture Minister Myron Walwyn announced that the CXCs would be added as a graduation requirement along with the secondary school leaving exam.
Any graduates hoping to secure a government scholarship to study abroad, Mr. Walwyn added, must pass five CXC subjects, including English and maths.
“Government is convinced that this new policy will positively impact the academic and future professional prospects for our students,” he said at the time.
In the past, a majority of Virgin Islands high school graduates have tended to sit the exams but it was never a requirement.
See the Dec. 5, 2013 edition for full coverage.
{fcomment}
