The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has developed and will be introducing a new qualification called the Caribbean Targeted Education Certificate (CTEC).

The pilot for the new certification programme will be rolled out in September with the initial CTEC being issued in 2026.

CXC Registrar and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Wayne Wesley, who made the announcement during a hybrid press conference on Tuesday, April 15, explained that the new qualification will enable students to learn and engage with topics at three different paces and modules.

He informed that CTEC will entail an advanced, accelerated track with a compressed programme; a typical, general track with a two-year programme; and an individualised, flexible track with an extended programme.

“Within this construct, the learner is at the focus of what we are treating with and, as you can see, we’ll be dealing with the learning style of the individual, the learning rate and the learning depth, how students learn, the pace at which they learn and the amount of content that they can absorb at any one time,” Dr. Wesley said.

He further indicated that should students leave the system for any reason, they could re-engage with the subject at the next stage.

The CEO added that achieving all the modules would result in the student receiving their certificate.

“So you don’t have to start the entire CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) syllabus all over again, if you exit with module one. You can re-engage the system at module two or module three and obtain your full certification,” he stated.

Dr Wesley explained that the new qualification will be administered at the same standard as CSEC and the Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examination (CAPE). Additionally, he said it will be utilising the same syllabus, focused on related and relevant learning outcomes, provide for the progressive achievement of competencies, and non-terminal.

“The approaches to CTEC will be subject-based. This will be assessment based on the syllabus qualifications that we offer and it is discipline-specific, or CTEC will be a skills-based approach where assessment will be based on competence achieved through real-life scenarios and situations, and this will be contextual,” he said.

Dr Wesley added that the students will be afforded significant flexibility to assist them in achieving and demonstrating the level of competencies acquired.

“We have started this process in both English and Mathematics. The modularisation of English and Mathematics will be done across three modules. Each module will be assessed independently and the combination of those three modules will provide for the award of the full certification,” he said.

Dr Wesley informed that countries have expressed an interest in starting the pilot, noting that CTEC’s introduction will address the issue of students leaving school without certification. He added that CXC seeks to become more flexible and responsive to the region’s needs.