Education Ministry/Texila University launch ‘CXC Academy’

─ free access to past CXC exam questions

Guyanese students and those across the Caribbean preparing for this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, can now benefit from the services of the ‘CXC Academy’.

The initiative was launched on Wednesday and aims to provide academic support to students preparing for this year’s exams. It provides multiple-choice questions from past CXC examinations in English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Principles of Business and Principles of Accounts, on an easy-to-use online platform.

The initiative was made possible through a partnership between the Ministry of Education and Texila American University (TAU) Guyana, facilitated through Smart Lab. Students can access it free of cost.

Minister, Hon. Priya Manickchand, in her feature address, said the initiative is one which the Government is grateful for, as it provides more assistance to the Grades 10 and 11 students.

“The fact that this is coming at no cost to our country or students is hugely commendable and something to emulate and I want to say thanks to Texila on behalf of the students of Guyana, and the Government of Guyana for taking the initiative, pursuing this, and bringing it to completion.”

The Education Minister encouraged other corporate bodies to also contribute to the education sector amid the pandemic. She urged persons to take advantage of the initiative, whether they are preparing for CSEC or even seeking to sharpen their knowledge.

“We could not have imagined as a world the consequences of COVID, so I do not believe anyone could have imagined the extent of damage a pandemic could do. Education systems across the world continue to grapple with the learning loss that is almost certain to come home from school closures…including premature school leaving,” she said.

With this in mind, the Ministry implemented various initiatives including the distribution of worksheets and pre-loaded tablets to students, the expansion of the Guyana Learning Channel, and virtual classrooms, and other measures.

However, Minister Manickchand said these measures only spotlight the value of a trained teacher in the classroom.

Dean of the College of Medicine of TAU, Dr. Dheeraj Bansal thanked the Government for allowing the university to implement an initiative which reflects its tagline ‘Bringing Education to Life’.

“We are committed to improving education standards, not only at the professional education level, but at all levels of education. This current initiative is an effort in the same direction, in my opinion, and I assure you that this is not the last one, there’ll be many more in the future and wherever and whenever we are needed. We are always there to provide our support for the same purpose,” Dr. Bansal said.

Chief Executive Officer of TAU, Mr. Syam Kumar said he hopes the initiative paves the way for further technological advancement in the education sector.

“We believe in giving back to the society and this is one step towards achieving that goal of being a social partner for the government. We have further plans to enhance a portfolio that more subjects and more questions or a bit of time to the Academy,” he said.

Persons desirous of using the online platform can visit https://cxc.academy/  or call 265-7651 for more information.