[ad_1]
By Kevon Browne
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Following a meeting with the region’s education ministers, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC®) has announced that it will collaborate on marketing strategies to increase student participation in previously cancelled technical and vocational subjects.
Following an outcry in the region, CXC® rescinded the announcement of subject abolition and announced a meeting with ministers to find an appropriate solution.
CXC® Registrar and CEO Dr Wayne Wesley outlined the decision following a meeting with the Minister in a press conference on 4 June 2024.
“Firstly, the Caribbean Examinations Council will continue to offer the region a double degree in Agricultural Science, Green Engineering, an Industrial Technology Mechanical elective, and Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology. Secondly, CXC® has introduced a number of new generation technology and science courses. Some courses have not met the expected demand.
“Governments will work with CXC® to drive demand for these new programs and make them cost-feasible. Thirdly, today’s discussions with the Ministers of Education highlighted the need for a collective regional marketing approach to promote priority subject areas in STEM or STEAM education and climate-smart agriculture, which are critical to economic growth and sustainable development in the region. Finally, CXC® is committed to ensuring that its communications protocols provide more high-level decision-making policy advice to Ministers of Education.”
Dr. Wesley also shared other concerns about implementing these programs, including the availability of lab and faculty resources, and a lack of student interest in the subjects being considered for suspension.
Dr. Eduardo Ali, Deputy Registrar and Deputy CEO of CXC®, further detailed the considerations for the suspension.
“The plants and equipment are outdated, students lack practical experience due to inadequate laboratories and facilities, and there is a lack of qualified teaching professionals to teach a wide range of courses. In some cases, there are challenges in these subjects due to lack of human capital expenditure to support areas such as welding and other related fields, plumbing and electrical installation, physical resource issues such as textbooks and other learning resources are challenges that the system does not provide for students in the system, and areas related to admission requirements. We found that in many cases, there are no opportunities for upward mobility beyond the subject, as many universities and community colleges do not include it as an admission requirement.
“For example, if you look at the mechanical engineering options, and likewise agricultural science, in both cases they are not considered a requirement for admission to the corresponding subjects at community colleges. For those studying green engineering and electrical engineering, math and physics are the options preferred by colleges, not green engineering per se or electrical and electronics engineering technology. So, these are some of the issues that are being raised in the region and we are very concerned about this at CXC®, and of course, we will point out that some of these challenges have policy implications for the Minister of Education and education stakeholders in the region.”
Additionally, CXC® has launched a series of new initiatives, which it says are designed to keep up with the changing education landscape and market demands.
“There are actually 12 new generation disciplines at the CAPE level. They include Agricultural Sciences, Entrepreneurship, Performing Arts, Sports and Athletics, Tourism, Animation and Game Design, Logistics and Supply Chain Operations, Digital Media, Financial Services, Design and Technology, and Biotechnology. So, these areas have been identified based on the needs raised in the region and CXC® has to ensure that the supply meets the demand.”- shared Dr. Ali.
CXC® officials said some of the subjects being considered for suspension were due to low student numbers, and revealed that six member countries had no students enrolled in certain subjects.
“CSEC has an industrial technology program with three options, electrical and electronics technology, construction and manufacturing technology, and mechanical engineering technology. So option B, which is mechanical engineering technology, is the only option that we recommend to suspend. The other two are still viable. For example, if you look at the numbers for the electronics technology CSEC program, you will find that the entire region has about 4,500 people. And construction and manufacturing technology, it is about 4,200 people.
He continued, “But for Mechanical Engineering Technology for the entire region, the number is less than 2,400. So, what you’re looking at is half of the student enrollment for the entire region. However, as Dr. Wesley pointed out, for that particular discipline, we have six regions that have not enrolled any students in the region in the last five years. Three regions have enrolled between one and five students per year. Another three regions have enrolled just over 50. So, that gives you a rough idea of the numbers.”
“Of course, the numbers vary. So, in three regions, one country has 1,335 enrolments, another has 544, another has 163, and all the other countries mentioned have between 1 and 5 or 0. As for agricultural sciences, we found that double scholarships account for 10% to 12% of enrolments compared to single scholarships.
In other words, only 10% of all students who received a single scholarship received a single scholarship, which means that the number of candidates in the entire region is very small. Therefore, for reference, eight regions did not register any candidates for three to five years. Four regions registered between 1 and 50 students per year, and most of them had less than 10.
Dr. Ali further pointed out: “In fact, only two regions have enrolments, one country has 750 students during this period and the other country has about 150 students in the entire region. So you will find that there are mainly two or three countries in the distribution that enroll students in the entire discipline, and most of them have no enrolment or very low enrolment, less than 10 students.
“For CAPE Green Engineering I and II, the trend was similar. Seven districts had no students enrolled during the period, with an average of 40 students in units I and II. For CAPE Electrical and Electronic Technology, six districts had no students enrolled during the period, and only one district had 137 students. So, based on our analysis, we found that half of the districts had no students enrolled at all, and this was the case for the three to five-year period, and this trend has continued to the present day.”
Dr Ali also said that in addition to resource challenges, the subject areas that ministers are seeking to retain must provide clear pathways for students. The labour market is an important factor in determining the subject directions that CXC® offers to students.
The subjects under consideration for suspension include the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) in Mechanical Engineering and Advanced Certification – Green Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Technology, Agricultural Science, and the Caribbean Advanced Level (CAPE) Dual Award.
[ad_2]
Source link
