(NATION NEW) – THE BARBADOS UNION OF TEACHERS (BUT) has joined the growing list of objectors across the region, which includes the Jamaica government, who have raised serious concerns about the holding of CSEC and CAPE exams in July.

In fact, the union has slammed the adjustment, which was a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as being more of a business decision rather than one in the best interest of the students taking the exam.

In a letter addressed to Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw, the Chief Education Officer and the Permanent Secretary, a copy of which the DAILY NATION has obtained, the BUT contended that the decision seemed not to factor in the displacement to both teachers and students caused by the health crisis. In the correspondence signed by president Sean Spencer, the union claimed that, through the Ministry of Education, had urged the governing Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) not to rush this process.

“On April 14, 2020, the union articulated to the Ministry of Education its belief that CXC would be better advised to implement a policy, as a separate and distinct organisational tool (apart from what may be said to amount to a business strategy), which would see its decision-making resonate with the full magnitude of the unprecedented nature of developments during this time of an extraordinary ongoing public health crisis,” the letter stated.