In keeping with the revised Treaty of Basseterre Establishing the OECS Economic Union on January 21, 2011 [2] there is a move within the region to promote economic integration among Member States.
Inspecting the CPEA 2015 results, one can note the CPEA exam results dataset clearly outlines the ranking of students based on the regional participants versus local territories participants [ 3]. It means that Grenadian students sitting the exam was a subset of the entire cohort and their rank was also based on that larger cohort. According to the press release, [3] two Grenadian students both scored 490 points of the possible 500 marks, allow them to gain the ties for the first position. Simply put, these two young men were top in the CPEA not for Grenada but for the region ( maybe there were other from the island also).
Over the next few week, our attention will be focused on CXC and their release of a territorial report. Such report should provide light on the performance of the various islands participating in the 2015 Exam. At this point, there is no clear evidence as to which countries are fully on the CPEA apart from Grenada and Antigua the pilot countries[4].
Furthermore, there seems to be less acceptance from the larger CARICOM states regarding the exam. The Barbados advocate in 2014 gave an update on the matter [5], citing implementation was already on ground in Grenada, Anguilla, Antigua, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as St. Lucia. However, at this point it is not well know as to transition status for these countries, save Grenada.
Grenada - 2012 Full Pilot; 2013- Full CPEA, 2014- Full CPEA, 2015 Full implementation with regional ranking of students
Antigua - 2012 Partial Pilot;
Given the results set, it is assumed that at least 4000 students may have done the CPEA in 2015, of which (1835 was from Grenada because of full implimentation). We await release from CXC on this matter.
In conclusion, when the CPEA is fully implemented the thought process of student from their early life (Grade 5 or 6) will begin to consider their territorial counterparts as one and the same as a local participant. We shall see if this type of early influence can impact the mindset of the future generation as we work toward OECS integration.
References:
[1] Caribbean Examination Council: What is CPEA - https://www.cxc.org/?q=examinations/cpea, Accessed June 17, 2015
[2]About the Economic Union of the OECS - http://www.oecs.org/economic-union-press/891-grenada-hosts-oecs-integration-and-economic-union-public-awareness-country-mission, Last Paragraph
[3] Grenada CPEA 2015 Press Release - Government of Grenada website - http://gov.gd/egov/pdf/pr-cpea-2015.pdf, Read General Results Section.
[4] CPEA pilot in the region, Grenada and Antigue -http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/grenada.php?news_id=10954&start=0&category_id=
[5] The status of CPEA for Caribbean regions Where is Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados ? -http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=editorial&NewsID=40474
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