Castries, St.Lucia(May 26th 2016):- The Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development and Labour wishes to assure all candidates/students who are writing the Caribbean Examinations Council’s (CXC) Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) examinations that all necessary steps have been taken to ensure the examinations scheduled for Monday, June 6, 2016 run smoothly without disruptions.

General election has been scheduled for Monday, June 6, 2016. Many schools, principally the primary schools, a few secondary schools and the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, are used as polling stations for the general election. Moreover, this time of year is traditionally the period for many national and regional examinations. On Monday, June 6, the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) Food and Nutrition Paper I and Additional Mathematics Papers I and III are scheduled for 9:00 am and 1:00 pm respectively. Consequently, the following secondary schools will serve as both CSEC centres and polling stations: Anse Ger Secondary, Castries Comprehensive Secondary, Choiseul Secondary, Clendon Mason Secondary, Corinth Secondary, Entrepot Secondary, Gros Islet Secondary, Micoud Secondary, Vide Bouteille Secondary and the Vieux Fort Comprehensive Secondary. At the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC), examinations for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) in Biology Unit 2, Economics Unit 2 and Spanish Unit 2 will be held.

On Friday, May 20, the Chief Education Officer Mr Marcus Edward met with principals of all secondary schools to discuss the arrangements for the concurrence of the general election and the examinations at the schools affected. At the end of the meeting, the principals agreed that the two activities run concurrently do not adversely affect each other. Moreover, the Electoral Department and the SALCC have already met and have made all arrangements for the sitting of the CAPE and the use of some buildings at SALCC as polling stations.

The CSEC and the CAPE examinations are regional examinations administered by the CXC. Therefore, the Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development and Labour received the blessings of the CXC for its examinations to be held simultaneously with the general election 2016.