Dr. Wayne Wesley, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of CXC. (The Voice St Lucia News)
The Caribbean Examinations Council provided special assessment arrangements for 3,444 candidates with visual impairment and other special needs during the 2025 examination sittings, as part of its commitment to inclusive education.
Dr. Wayne Wesley, CXC’s Registrar and CEO, announced the figures during a press conference in Kingston on Wednesday, emphasizing the organization’s dedication to ensuring all candidates can participate fully in examinations regardless of ability.
“For the 2025 examination sit-ins, CTEC made special assessment arrangements for over 3,444 candidates with visual impairment and other special needs,” Dr. Wesley said.
Dr. Wesley revealed that CXC is actively advocating for the adoption of the WIPO Marrakesh Treaty across the Caribbean to support accessible learning for visually impaired and print-disabled students.
“As I shared several weeks ago at the regional WIPO workshop on the Marrakesh treaty, CTEC will actively advocate through ministries of education across the Caribbean for the adoption and implementation of this treaty to support accessible learning and to advocate for the needs of the visually impaired and printed disabled students,” he said.
The Marrakesh Treaty aims to ensure that learners with disabilities are not left behind in the examination system, particularly visually impaired persons.
Dr. Wesley emphasized CXC’s continued commitment to enhancing accessibility for candidates with disabilities in future examinations.
“As we continue to reflect our approaches and technologies to enhance accessibility to our candidates for these years and future years, we commit to ensuring that all candidates, regardless of ability, can participate fully and fairly,” he said.
The registrar framed the accessibility efforts as part of CXC’s broader mission. “By standing resiliently with stakeholders in the wake of disasters, improving our operational processes and efficiencies to deliver higher levels of customer service, and widening access to our services in inclusive ways for the disabled or differently abled, CTEC is fulfilling its duty of care to people of our beloved region,” Dr. Wesley said.
I hope this continues and expands. Special needs support shouldn’t depend on who shouts the loudest.