New business certificate from CXC

THE Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) will begin awarding certificates in Business Studies to students who successfully complete a “cluster of business subjects” from August. These certificates will be issued in addition to the ordinary Caribbean Secondary Education Certificates (CSEC) to the students. The announcement was made yesterday by Dr Lucy Steward, registrar of CXC, at an information session for persons in business at the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Com-merce, Westmoorings. Dr Steward said the initiative will “test the waters” and pave the way for the consideration of awarding of similar certificates in the fields of education, modern language and technical/ vocational skills.

She explained that to qualify for the business certificate, students must have successfully completed five subjects. These include English A and Mathematics, which are compulsory, plus at least two of either Principles of Business, Principles of Accounts, Office Procedures and Electronic Documents Preparation and Management (EDPM). In addition, the students would have had to pass either Information Technology, Economics, Spanish or French. Steward pointed out that EDPM incorporated many of the skills acquired in typewriting, and will most likely replace that subject. Speaking about the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), which will be introduced in Trinidad and Tobago from Septem-ber to replace GCE Advanced Level exams, Steward assured that the CAPE certificate was recognised by both local and international universities.

She said in instances where the respective university was not familiar with the certificate, they have the option to call the CXC to verify the certificates’ authenticity. Steward said CAPE was introduced in the Caribbean since 1998 and was intended to be more flexible, considering that of the 130,000 students writing CXC, only a few were going on to the Advanced Level. She said Advanced Level examinations were now only being pursued in England and Wales, noting that the US accepted the CSEC in addition to SATs. Steward also explained that Com-munication and Caribbean Studies are to be introduced as  CAPE subjects to better prepare students for further education. Steward also went through in detail, the stringent measures in place regarding the formulation of the CXC syllabus and the correction of the examination papers.