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CXC will be signing an agreement with a regional employment consortium to gather employment data to incorporate into curriculum planning at its inaugural Regional Education Conference and fourth Ministerial Forum, taking place between March 16-19 in Kingston, Jamaica.

Speaking virtually from Jamaica during a media conference on March 13, CXC Deputy CEO Dr Eduardo Ali said the consortium comprises four regional employer umbrella bodies which represent employers, labour, human resources management and practitioners across the region.

“That agreement will launch our partnership with employers. The focus is on mounting and extending our OSIS (occupational skills intelligence system) where we will gather skills and competencies and job data for determining the future trends as regards those areas, and use that signalling system to support CXC as we advance and develop our qualifications and our syllabuses in particular to ensure that people who are in the schooling system and out of school, taking our products, are prepared for life and prepared for the future.”

Wesley said the signing of the agreement was one of the ways CXC was trying to ensure its curricula would remain relevant and represent current skill sets and competencies required by employers.

“We will be using that information along with other labour market information that will help guide the intelligence required for the syllabi we currently offer. We have already completed a skills and competencies framework which captures the 21st century skills.”

Asked whether CXC was also aiming to ensure students would be responsible citizens, with critical thinking and soft skills, CXC CEO Dr Wayne Wesley said,

“One of the strategic repositionings of CXC is our learning and education philosophy, where we have now moved to competency-based education and training and ensuring that students demonstrate not just the technical skills but the behavioural skills and the employability skills required for them to function efficiently in society. All of that is embedded in the new CXC skills and competency framework, where we look at both the technical, the behavioural and the employability skills required in the 21^st century.

“Because we’re involved in the development of the human capital of the region, we have embarked on a process that will ensure the preparation of our students is not only fair and can stand up to scrutiny, but can also create what we call future-ready graduates, graduates that are prepared to function now, but also have the skill sets to function in the future. The CXC Targeted Education Certificate (CTEC) will be bringing greater emphasis on the skills outlined. CTEC from a subject perspective will give the subject competencies, but CTEC skills will focus on employability skills, the soft skills, and when that is launched, there will be a greater focus on these skills, although they are not assessed in the same way as subjects. A behavioural assessment will have to be done as to how students behave. So we have taken a deliberate, strategic approach in ensuring all the competencies required – soft, technical, transversal – are embedded in our qualifications going forward.”

Ali said the modularised approach being adopted by CXC meant that subjects could be tested year to year instead of every two years and CTEC would identify the skills and competencies required for students taking the subjects on the modular pathway.

“Our skills and competencies framework references over 200 sub-skills and sub-themes of skills that would be used as we engage in that modularisation process. Through OSIS and with the aid of the employer’s consortium, we will be doing surveys every two years to determine the future trends of jobs and skills.”

Wesley said over 300 delegates have registered for the gathering, the theme of which is “Navigating the Digital Age: Rethinking Teaching, Learning and Assessment”.

Speaking from CXC’s offices in Barbados, Wesley said, “This conference will be more than just talk. Pre- and post-conference workshops will ensure that the educators and practitioners share and learn from their peers and experts in the field.

“A key outcome is to find commonality on best practices, models to master Caribbean teaching and instruction, student-centred learning and assessment of learning in the context of artificial intelligence and our digital world.”

He said seven education ministers would attend the conference in person, while six would join virtually.

“The ministers will deliberate on some of the key issues distilled in the conference, such as AI, digitalisation in education systems, literacy and numeracy, challenges and interventions, and flexible education pathways, such as the CXC Targeted Education Certificate (CTEC). With the expression of interest, registration is continuing in earnest for the CTEC qualification, and today over 796 candidates have registered, with several others in the process of completing same.”

Wesley said the forum and conference are indicative of the new activist CXC.

“CXC will become more active in listening and interacting with our large stakeholder base to better understand their frustrations, unmet needs and concerns, with our products and services, especially among the youth demographic of student candidates. We are practising our duty of care. In the prevailing digital environment, where CXC’s overwhelming majority of Gen Z and Alpha stakeholders spend a lot of their time, CXC intends to be more agile in the space, presenting our products and services in more engaging ways as we facilitate and celebrate the achievements of the Caribbean learners who sit our examinations and benefit from our services.”

CXC director of operations Dr Nicole Manning said delegates would be coming from 27 countries, including Malta, Canada, the UK, USA and the Netherlands, as well as 21 Caribbean countries.

She said some of the discussions at the conference would be about how to empower educational professionals as they navigate in the digital age exploring the use of digitalisation; engage teachers and other education professionals to drive the improved performance of candidates in mathematics; and to provide participants with the opportunity to explore the value of emerging digital technologies and AI.

Ali said one focus of the conference would be hearing ministers or policymakers speak on issues related to digitalisation and looking at literacy and numeracy issues, among others.

“We are hoping, coming out of this event, we will have a pragmatic approach, moving from policy to practice in the region. Delegates will spend a considerable amount of time looking at the practical elements of what is to happen in their schools and education systems as they implement policy.

“When our ministers come together, the focus is on the strategic side, looking at what policies the ministers are seeking to administer, based on the theme and the discussions that will take place. So we are expecting decisions and commitments between CXC and the education ministers representing their governments within the policy space. We hope following discussions between CXC, the ministers, Caricom and the OECs, to come to clear decisions as to how to proceed.”

Ali said the discussions will build on decisions and commitments taken at the Council of Human and Social Development at the Ministers of Education forum in October 2024.

He said three of the commitments would be advanced through the event: exploring governance mechanisms and digital platforms; exploring the comprehensive curricula reforms as they approach issues related to skills and competencies for life and where curricula meets employability and employment; and how we go about investing in advancing in digital infrastructures, including artificial intelligence.

Ali said presentations would also be made by authors or potential authors in their political areas. He said mention would be made of the CXC Caribbean Journal of Educational Assessment, which should be launched soon, and where the authors could have their presentations published and disseminated.