Paula Anne Moore | Our children deserve better: The case for education reform in CARICOM

If 2020 was the year thousands of Caribbean students and parents first raised the alarm about the reliability, validity, and fairness of CXC examinations, then 2025 was the year the region finally received answers.

Across Barbados and CARICOM, education and child rights dominated public debate, driven by declining learning outcomes, persistent inequities, violence in schools, and a growing insistence that institutions must be accountable to the children they serve.

The 2024 CXC results – with only 4.9 per cent of 200,000 students passing five or more Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects, including Maths and English, and a 36 per cent regional Maths pass rate – were a stark reminder that the region’s learning crisis is deepening.

These results, which were not significantly different from the previous decade, and only marginally better in 2025, exposed structural weaknesses in foundational primary education, curriculum alignment, instructional quality, and assessment reliability. Socio economic disparities continue to shape learning outcomes. Parents, teachers, and students were united in concern – and in 2025, regional leaders began to respond.

CXC’S APRIL 2025 REPOSITIONING: WELCOME, NECESSARY – AND LONG OVERDUE

In April 2025, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) announced a strategic repositioning to make the institution more “fit for purpose”. The proposed initiative includes modernising governance structures and expanding stakeholder representation – a long overdue acknowledgment of concerns raised for years prior to 2020.

But the details matter. The proposal limits parental representation to PTA delegates. PTAs perform invaluable service, but they do not represent the full diversity of parental voices across the region. If the goal is genuine accountability, parental representation must be broad, independent, and empowered – not symbolic.

CXC has stated that it has a “duty of care” to its students. As we parents have long said, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”. Governance reform must be accompanied by clear performance indicators, transparent reporting, and mechanisms that ensure parents have meaningful participation in shaping the future of regional examinations.

CXC QUALITY ASSURANCE AND COMMUNICATION: THE TRUST GAP WIDENS

Throughout 2025, concerns persisted regarding:

• Grading anomalies

• Exam paper and invigilator errors

• Pushing electronic testing despite inadequate ICT infrastructure

• Slow or opaque grade review processes

• Limited responsiveness to stakeholder queries

For students whose futures hinge on these results, such challenges are not administrative inconveniences — they are life altering. Parents repeatedly report difficulty obtaining timely, substantive responses from CXC. In a high stakes environment, silence is not neutral; it is harmful.

These quality assurance issues speak to significant deficiencies in reliability, validity, and fairness – the fundamental elements of exam testing. Unless these are materially addressed, CXC’s strategic repositioning will have limited effectiveness, and CARICOM risks becoming less globally competitive.

Our education institutions must demonstrate both competence and care.

2020 INDEPENDENT REVIEW TEAM RECOMMENDATIONS: STILL NO TRANSPARENCY

The Independent Review Team (IRT), convened in 2020, made several key recommendations following widespread CARICOM public concerns about CXC’s grading and moderation processes. These included strengthening quality assurance, improving transparency, enhancing communication, and establishing clearer appeals processes.

Yet five years later, CXC has not publicly reported whether these recommendations were implemented, partially implemented, or set aside.

Without transparency, trust cannot be rebuilt.

The absence of public reporting raises a deeper question: How can CARICOM evaluate progress when the institution responsible for examinations is not required to account for its own reforms?

UNICEF’S 2021 CALL TO ACTION: STILL UNANSWERED

In 2021, UNICEF representatives across CARICOM publicly urged CXC and ministries of education to address widespread anxieties about exam fairness, transparency, and the appeals process. UNICEF called for clearer, timely communication, stronger psychosocial support, and more transparent grading mechanisms.

Four years later, these concerns remain largely unresolved. Their persistence underscores the need for sustained, systemic reform – not temporary fixes. UNICEF’s intervention signaled that examination governance required strengthening. The fact that these issues continue to surface in 2025 suggests the region has not yet confronted the structural weaknesses undermining student confidence and parental trust.

A REGIONAL LEARNING CRISIS WITH ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES

International partners continue to raise alarms. World Bank Director Lilia Burunciuc emphasized in 2025 that low numeracy and literacy proficiency threaten long term economic resilience. Improving foundational learning is essential for innovation, productivity, and poverty reduction.

The 2024 CSEC results must therefore be understood, not only as an educational concern, but as a development imperative.

CARICOM MUST REVIEW ITS OWN GOVERNANCE OF CXC

A critical but often overlooked issue is the governance structure surrounding CXC itself. As a CARICOM institution, CXC ultimately reports to regional Heads of Government. Yet the current arrangement appears to allow CXC to operate with a high degree of self regulation. When COHSOD noted in 2021 that the authority to determine changes to CXC examinations rests with CXC alone, it effectively confirmed this.

This longstanding governance structure – lacking external, independent oversight and meaningful stakeholder engagement – is likely the root of many unresolved accountability challenges.

If CXC is to regain public trust, CARICOM must review and amend its governance of the institution, ensuring stronger oversight, clearer reporting obligations, and mechanisms that prevent conflicts of interest. Regional examination governance cannot rely on internal policing; it requires independent, transparent, externally accountable structures.

CARICOM cannot continue to treat CXC as both referee and player.

2025: A BREAKTHROUGH YEAR FOR PARENTAL PARTNERSHIP

This year saw significant regional investment in substantively strengthening parental engagement:

• February 2025: the undersigned presented parental concerns directly to CARICOM Heads of Government.

• April 2025: CXC’s repositioning effectively acknowledged stakeholder concerns as valid.

• September - October 2025: The CDB’s CARICOM Education Symposium, hosted by the Barbados Government, placed parental partnership at the centre of its agenda.

These developments demonstrate official recognition that parents are indispensable partners in education. Parental advocacy is not adversarial – it is essential.

BARBADOS’ PROGRESS ON PARENTAL INCLUSION IN 2025

Barbados has taken meaningful steps to strengthen parental participation in education policymaking, including:

• Appointing parents to National Curriculum Development Committees

• Including parents on CXC stakeholder committees

• Engaging parent representatives in discussions on amendments to the Education Act

These measures reflect a commendable shift toward inclusive governance and align with global best practice.

However, the ministry’s recent proposal to present parents with a billing style statement of the cost of education raised questions about whether this was the most effective way to build appreciation. It risks being perceived as symbolic rather than strategic.

BARBADOS’ 2025 EDUCATIONAL TRANSFORMATION AGENDA

Barbados’ transformation agenda seeks to optimise education outcomes for our children via a strategic plan to modernise curricula and legislation, strengthen teacher professionalisation, overhaul governance structures, and upgrade physical and digital infrastructure.

The aspiration to become the best education system in the world within five years signals bold leadership, but the scale of reform highlights the complexity of achieving such a target within a compressed timeline, especially given limited resources and longstanding governance challenges.

Failure is not an option. We must all ensure this transformation is strategic, realistic, and effective.

A CALL TO ACTION FOR 2026

Parents, children, and teachers are not asking for perfection – we are asking for fairness, transparency, and respect. If our institutions listen – truly listen – 2026 can be the year we collaborate to rebuild trust, modernise our systems, and reaffirm our commitment to the rights and futures of Caribbean children.

Our children deserve no less.

- Paula Anne Moore is Spokesperson & Coordinator of the Group of Concerned Parents of Barbados & Caribbean Coalition for Exam Redress. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com