Attaining as many Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) certificates as possible should not be the focus of regional education systems.
St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew shared that view yesterday as he urged leaders to ensure fewer students were left behind and that more children learnt soft skills.
“You have students who may have ten or 12 CXC subjects and then you ask them to sit and do an interview or have a conversation . . . . When you are looking at the paper, you see the CXCs, but when you hear the conversation, there is a significant mismatch.
“Therefore, I would like to ask CXC to respond to that. It’s not only the academic, how much you get in mathematics and English . . . but are you developing those soft skills which, to me, sometimes after a certain point are more important than the academics?” Drew asked.
He was delivering the feature address at the third CXC Ministerial Summit, which was held at Accra Beach Hotel, Rockley, Christ Church. (TG)