-orders school monitoring

The Ministry of Education has directed all secondary schools to continue School-Based Assessments (SBAs) for students taking the 2027 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, and ordered education officers to monitor compliance ahead of the March submission deadline.

Schools are prohibited from offering Paper 3 as a substitute for the prescribed SBA component or advising students and parents that such an arrangement is permitted.

The instructions are contained in Memorandum 21 of 2026, dated October 2 and signed by Chief Education Officer Saddam Hussain. They were reiterated in a ministry release posted on Facebook yesterday.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the MoE wishes to make it unequivocally clear that no secondary school is authorised to implement Paper 3 as an alternative to the prescribed SBA component during the 2026–2027 academic year,” the memorandum states.

The directive follows changes announced by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), under which 13 CSEC subjects will move from SBAs to the Alternative Paper 032 by May–June 2028.

CXC’s July guidance provides for either the SBA or Paper 032 to be accepted in those subjects during the May–June 2027 transition, with schools deciding which approach to use. Guyana’s ministry has directed secondary schools to retain the prescribed SBAs for that examination cycle. 

The memorandum requires all Grade 11 students pursuing subjects with an SBA component to continue and complete their assessments with immediate effect.

Headteachers must ensure that students receive sufficient instructional time, guidance and supervision, and use the ministry’s schedule to monitor completion before the March 2027 deadline.

They must also obtain regular departmental updates, identify students falling behind and arrange appropriate assistance. Challenges affecting completion must be brought promptly to the relevant education officer’s attention.

Teachers are required to explain assessment requirements and deadlines, maintain up-to-date progress records and provide timely feedback. Students at risk of not completing their SBAs must be identified and reported to the relevant head of department.

The memorandum also places responsibility on teachers to take reasonable measures to verify that submissions are authentic and comply with CXC’s requirements on academic integrity and student ownership.

Heads of department must ensure that guidance does not compromise the authenticity or independent nature of students’ work.

“Teachers are expected to use the available instructional time effectively so that students are not required to complete their SBA requirements at the last minute,” it states.

Education officers must visit schools, review assessment schedules and progress records, and verify that SBA activities have commenced or resumed. They must identify schools, subjects and student groups at risk of missing the deadline and provide support where difficulties arise.

Persistent or serious compliance concerns must be escalated to the relevant Regional Education Officer or Principal Education Officer. Officers must also confirm that schools are not implementing Paper 3 as an alternative and submit periodic compliance reports.

The ministry has directed regional and principal education officers to circulate the memorandum immediately, obtain acknowledgement from headteachers and ensure follow-up where schools fail to comply.

Headteachers must bring its contents to all staff and obtain their signatures and dates confirming that they have read and understood it.

The memorandum warns that schools must take sustained action to prevent students being disadvantaged by failure to complete their prescribed assessments on time.

CXC said its regional reforms were intended to strengthen assessment integrity in response to the rise of generative artificial intelligence, while retaining SBAs for practical subjects where projects and hands-on work assess competencies that conventional examinations cannot adequately capture. 

The 13 subjects scheduled to move to Paper 032 are Additional Mathematics, Caribbean History, Economics, English A, English B, Human and Social Biology, Information Technology, Mathematics, Office Administration, Principles of Accounts, Principles of Business, Religious Education and Social Studies.