CXC briefs territories on SBA overhaul as ODPEM accepts Melissa audit findings

The Caribbean Examinations Council will hold sensitisation sessions in all 21 member territories to explain upcoming changes to its school-based assessment framework, Director of Operations Nicole Manning told the press this week.

Under the revised model for non-practical subjects, candidates will receive assessment topics about one month before sitting Paper 032 and may take reference notes into the exam room. CXC plans frequently asked questions, live webinars and outreach through local registrars. Officials say the reforms aim to protect qualification integrity amid generative artificial intelligence and other technology.

CSEC candidates may choose the traditional SBA or Paper 032 in 2027 before the new assessment becomes mandatory for non-practical subjects in 2028. CAPE candidates move to Paper 032 from the May–June 2027 sittings.

Agriculture Minister, responding to social-media misinformation, stressed that only people producing farm goods for commercial sale should register with the Rural Agricultural Development Authority. Backyard planting for household use does not require RADA registration. Registration, he said, creates an official record of commercial farmers, aids produce traceability, supports access to government programmes and helps combat praedial larceny. He noted more than 5,000 backyard garden kits have been distributed.

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management said it accepts the Auditor General’s findings on its Hurricane Melissa response and is closing identified gaps. Director General Commander Alvin Gayle and board chairman Trudy Deans outlined reforms in a GIS interview. Gayle said ODPEM coordinated a whole-of-government effort involving more than 126 local and international agencies and oversaw programmes including the government-directed roof repair drive. The agency has tightened inventory and documentation controls, set up the national disaster fund committee, moved logistics and warehousing under the director general, and drawn Jamaica Defence Force logistics support. Broader plans include a national disaster logistics hub.

Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay on Tuesday received the first LIAT flight from Guadeloupe, launching a year-round Tuesday and Saturday service. MBJ Airports Limited chief executive Shane Monroe said the route deepens Eastern Caribbean links.

Economic analysts warned that last week’s $12.50 rise in automotive diesel, with higher tolls ahead, could lift transport costs further. STATIN data show June inflation up 0.8 per cent month-on-month and 6.7 per cent over 12 months, above the Bank of Jamaica’s 4–6 per cent target, led by transport. Business confidence rose 2.3 per cent while consumer confidence fell by the same margin, Market Research Services Limited chairman Don Anderson said Tuesday.

Regionally, Bahamas Consul General Dr Elaine Monica Davis urged equitable cancer care at the Caribbean Association for Oncology and Haematology’s 14th symposium. Guyana declared three days of national mourning from July 22 to 24 after the MV Barima capsized Saturday; Prime Minister Mark Phillips said 41 bodies have been recovered, 77 people rescued and 63 remain missing from 179 aboard.

In sport, Jamaica’s Under-20 men, drawn in Group C with Honduras, Panama and Canada at the Concacaf Under-20 Championship, seek a first FIFA U-20 World Cup since 2001. Shimron Hetmyer made an unbeaten 69 as the West Indies beat New Zealand by two wickets in the fifth ODI, though New Zealand took the series 3–2.