By Tracey Khan – Drakes
[www.inewsguyana.com] –A number of students from four private schools students in Queenstown, Georgetown who are sitting this year’s Caribbean Secondary Examination Council (CSEC) experienced some difficulties in writing their exams on Wednesday, May 06.
This was as a result of a mix up of locations to sit the practical session of the subject, Electronic Document Preparation and Management (EDPM) at the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) building; however when students arrived they were told that the center was not prepared to host them.
This led to panic for both students and parents, who immediately visited the Caribbean Examination Council Division at Queens College to sort out the location of the exam. It was then that an alternative was sought to have the 25 students sit the exam at NCERD.
Meanwhile, another hurdle was encountered since only 10 students could sit the exams at a time due to shortage of computers at the center.
One parent questioned how the Education Ministry could have allowed an incident of this nature to occur.
“Now today we are trying to tell Priya Manickchand what took place and she is trying to justify that it is not so and how the students went to the wrong place because they didn’t follow the timetable…the timetable clearly states and when we go to the exam place it’s something else,” a parent told iNews.
Parents are furious over this incident and told iNews that some students were more affected since, “my son had to start EDPM until 10:30 and then he came out 13:10 hours to go and write Science at ACDA building and they had already started without him because he was late and who is going to take the blame for that? Nobody.”
The mother added that, “so every time they have to do a practical they have to go to the examination council and then they will find a spot for you.”
The confusion continued on Thursday, May 07 when students turned up to write the Physics exam at ACDA building and were told to return at 13:00 hrs instead at St. Stanislaus College.
“The children have to find a lab, now you’re taking $6,500 per subject so you have to provide the lab; 16,000 students writing this examination across the country and these are the monies that you’re getting from the examinations, it’s not a case where you’re not getting money…the schools have the facilities…so why don’t you bring over your invigilators to come to the private schools that the children attend and let them do the examination right there?”
