REVISED SYLLABUSES

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
At its meeting held in May 2017, the Panel reviewed all aspects of the syllabus, with the main aim of delineating the competencies, knowledge and attitudes that students might reasonably be expected to demonstrate. The Panel also revisited the Specific Objectives to ensure that they adequately reflect the expected competencies, knowledge and attitudes of the students; revisited the Content areas to ensure that they were current and relevant; and refined the Assessment Outline to ensure that Paper 02 is psychometrically robust by reducing the number of questions from 12 compulsory items to four compulsory items. Additionally, the SBA and associated Mark Scheme were revised to ensure greater alignment to the Council’s Policy regarding group work. The Panel also developed Paper 032, the alternate to the SBA with a view to targetting the out of school population.

The following is a summary of the actions taken:

  1. Revision of the Rationale, Aims, General Objectives.
  2. Clarification and elaboration of Specific Objectives and Content.
  3. Inclusion of more current and relevant content areas such as cloud storage, cybersecurity and computer misuse.
  4. Inclusion of Visual Basic for Applications as an additional programming language to be studied.
  5. Re-organisation of the syllabus document to ensure coherence, resulting in the existing Sections 2 and 3 becoming Sections 7 and 8 respectively.
  6. Development of Suggested Teaching and Learning Activities in each Section of the syllabus to help teachers better cater to diversity among learners and to stimulate and maintain interest in the subject area.
  7. Revision of the list of Resources to include current print and electronic sources.
  8. Revision of the Glossary of Information Technology Concepts to include relevant and accurate terms and definitions.
  9. Revision of the structure and weighting of examination papers and associated Assessment Criteria resulting in Paper 02 being reduced from 12 compulsory structured questions to four compulsory structured questions and Paper 031 to include Web-Page Design, an area of the syllabus that is not currently assessed.
  10. Development of a Paper 032 with a view to targeting the out of school population.

The final draft of the syllabus along with the specimen examination papers, keys and mark schemes were approved by SUBSEC in October 2017. The approved syllabus and copies of the specimen examination papers, keys and mark schemes will be distributed to schools in May–June 2018, for first examination in May–June 2020.

MUSIC
The revised syllabus was approved by SUBSEC at its meeting in October 2017, and will be made available to schools for teaching in September 2018, for first examination in May–June 2020. The Panel, at its meeting held 31 January to 3 February 2017, revised the Rationale, Aims, General and Specific Objectives and Content to reflect the organisation and structure of CSEC® syllabuses, and to provide evidence of the philosophical, political and theoretical underpinnings, assumptions and linkages on which the revised syllabus is developed. These considerations include the development of the attributes of the CARICOM Ideal Person document as articulated by the 2000 Caribbean Education Strategy, the UNESCO Pillars of Learning and the integration of the Caribbean Vocational Qualification.

The revised CSEC® Music Syllabus is organised into four Sections, namely, Section 1, Music History and Theory; Section 2, Listening and Appraising, Section 3, Performing, and Section 4, Composing. The new Section 1, Music History and Theory focuses on the study of the Medieval, Baroque, Renaissance, Classical, Romantic, Twentieth Century, Caribbean and present-day periods of music including popular and avant-garde styles. In this Section students will be exposed to the work of notable composers and song writers, non-musical historical contexts that influence musical compositions, performances, forms; and, evolution in a wide cross-section of musical periods studied. The focus of the remaining three Sections was maintained.

The Format and Structure of the Examination was revised. Paper 01, Multiple-Choice Paper, Paper 02, Practical Paper and Paper 03, the School-Based Assessment which is now aligned to selected units from the Level 1 Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) in Musical Performance – Level 1 (CCECE10109). Consequently, once all requirements for issuing the CVQ are met every student with acceptable grades will receive a Statement of Competence to recognise their competencies in selected units. The decisions to award competencies will be based on the quality and relevance of the pieces of evidence presented for the occupational area.

Suggested Teaching and Learning Activities were also included in the syllabus to provide teachers with additional assistance to effectively deliver and assess the syllabus. These have been carefully chosen to match the objectives and contexts for learning, and are geared at encouraging the use of technology-based resources, creativity, group-work activities, pupil participation, and motivation.

PRINCIPLES OF ACCOUNTS
The Panel, at its meeting held in January 2017, revised all aspects of the syllabus, with the main aim of identifying the competencies, knowledge and attitudes that students might reasonably be expected to demonstrate. The committee also revisited the specific objectives to ensure that they adequately reflect the expected competencies, knowledge and attitudes of the students; revisited the content areas to ensure that they were current and relevant; and in keeping with the new SBA policy, structured the SBA task to demonstrate and measure the common skills relevant to the world of business and captured in the group of subjects considered as Business Cognates; namely, Economics, Principles of Accounts, and Principles of Business.

The following is a summary of the actions taken:

  1. Revision and refinement of the General Objectives for all Sections.
  2. Clarification and elaboration of Specific Objectives, and Content.
  3. The revised syllabus comprises eleven sections, namely, Section 1, Accounting as a profession; Section 2, Accounting as a system; Section 3, Books of original entry; Section 4, Ledgers and the trial balance; Section 5, The preparation and analysis of financial statements of the sole-trader; Section 6, Accounting adjustments; Section 7, Control systems; Section 8, Accounting for partnerships; Section 9, Accounting for limited liability companies, cooporatives and non-profit organisations; Section 10, Manufacturing and inventory control; and Section 11, Accounting for the entrepreneur.
  4. A list of Suggested Teaching and Learning Activities have been included in each section of the syllabus to help teachers cater to the different learning styles and to stimulate and maintain interest in the subject area.
  5. A Glossary of Accounting terms as well as terms used in the Principles of Accounts examination was included in the syllabus document and the list of resources was revised and updated.
  6. The School-Based Assessment will be a task which requires candidates to demonstrate competence in the skills and abilities identified in the syllabus as relevant to the field of business.
  7. The SBA task has been so structured that a candidate sitting Principles of Accounts and any other cognate/s namely Economics and Principles of Business, will be able to submit one assignment and the awarded grade used for all the subjects.
  8. To meet the requirements for the SBA, candidates may carry out the SBA Task and submit the Report in groups.
  9. Additional resources including the Business Cognate School-Based Research Guidelines was prepared and uploaded to various media to support the implementation of the syllabus.
  10. The structure of Paper 02 has been changed to make it more psychometrically robust by eliminating the current options and giving five compulsory questions.

The final draft of the syllabus along with the specimen examination papers, keys and mark schemes were submitted to SUBSEC in April 2017, for approval. The approved syllabus and copies of the specimen examination papers, keys and mark schemes were distributed to schools for teaching in September 2017, and first examination in May–June 2019.

PRINCIPLES OF BUSINESS
The Panel, at its meeting held in January 2017, revised all aspects of the syllabus, with the main aim of identifying the competencies, knowledge and attitudes that students might reasonably be expected to demonstrate. The committee also revisited the specific objectives to ensure that they adequately reflect the expected competencies, knowledge and attitudes of the students; revisited the content areas to ensure that they were current and relevant; and in keeping with the new SBA policy, structured the SBA task to demonstrate and measure the common skills relevant to the world of business and captured in the group of subjects considered as Business Cognates; namely, Economics, Principles of Accounts, and Principles of Business.

The following is a summary of the actions taken:

  1. Revision and refinement of the General Objectives for all Sections.
  2. Clarification and elaboration of Specific Objectives, and Content.
  3. The revised syllabus comprises ten sections, namely, Section 1, The nature of business; Section 2, Internal organisational environment; Section 3, Establishing a business; Section 4, Legal aspects of business; Section 5, Production; Section 6, Marketing; Section 7, Logistics and supply chain; Section 8, Business finance; Section 9, Role of government in an economy; and Section 10, Technology and the global business environment.
  4. The Sections are divided into three main categories namely Organisational principles, Sections 1-4; Promotion and logistics, Sections 4-7; and Finance, government and technology, Sections 8-10.
  5. A list of Suggested Teaching and Learning Activities have been included in each section of the syllabus to help teachers cater to the different learning styles and to stimulate and maintain interest in the subject area.
  6. A Glossary of Business terms as well as terms used in the Principles of Business examination was included in the syllabus document and the list of resources was revised and updated.
  7. The School-Based Assessment will be a task which requires candidates to demonstrate competence in the skills and abilities identified in the syllabus as relevant to the field of business.
  8. The SBA task has been so structured that a candidate sitting Principles of Business and any other cognate/s namely Economics and Principles of Accounts, will be able to submit one assignment and the awarded grade used for all the subjects.
  9. To meet the requirements for the SBA, candidates may carry out the SBA Task and submit the Report in groups.
  10. Additional resources including the Business Cognate School-Based Research Guidelines was prepared and uploaded to various media to support the implementation of the syllabus.
  11. The structure of Paper 02 has been changed to make it more psychometrically robust by eliminating the current options and giving five compulsory questions.

The final draft of the syllabus along with the specimen examination papers, keys and mark schemes were submitted to SUBSEC in April 2017, for approval. The approved syllabus and copies of the specimen examination papers, keys and mark schemes were distributed to schools for teaching in September 2017, and first examination in May–June 2019.

THEATRE ARTS
At its meeting held in May 2017, the Panel reviewed all aspects of the syllabus, with the main aim of delineating the competencies, knowledge and attitudes that students might reasonably be expected to demonstrate. The Panel also revisited the Specific Objectives to ensure that they adequately reflect the expected competencies, knowledge and attitudes of the students; revisited the Content areas to ensure that they were current and relevant; and refined the Assessment Outline to ensure that Paper 01 comprises Multiple Choice Items and the SBA and associated Mark Scheme are in alignment with the Council’s Policy regarding group work. Additionally, the Panel developed Paper 032, the alternate to the SBA with a view to target the out of school population.

The following is a summary of the actions taken:

  1. Revision and refinement of the Rationale, Aims, and General Objectives.
  2. Clarification and elaboration of Specific Objectives and Content.
  3. Re-organisation of the syllabus document in keeping with the policies of the Council with respect to Syllabus development.
  4. Reorganisation of the syllabus to comprise two broad areas, Core and Options, with each area having three Sections. The Sections associated with the Core are Elements of Theatre, Caribbean Cultural Forms and the newly added Text Analysis. The Sections associated with Option A, Drama are Drama Improvisation, Playmaking and Production. The Sections associated with Option B, Dance are Dance Improvisation, Dancemaking and Dance Fundamentals. The Sections associated with Option C, Stage Crafts are Dance or Drama Improvisation, Stage Management or Production Management and Costume or Set or Lighting.
  5. Addition of Suggested Teaching and Learning Activities to each section of the syllabus to help teachers better cater to diversities among learners and to stimulate and maintain interest in the subject area.
  6. Revision of the list of Resources to include current print and electronic sources.
  7. Revision of the format of Paper 01 to meet the Council’s policy requirement that all Paper 01 for all subjects comprise Multiple Choice items.
  8. Development of a Paper 032 with a view of targeting the out of school population.

The final draft of the syllabus along with the specimen examination papers, keys and mark schemes were approved by SUBSEC in October 2017. The approved syllabus and copies of the specimen examination papers, keys and mark schemes will be distributed to schools in May–June 2018, for first examination in May–June 2020.

SYLLABUSES UNDER REVIEW

VISUAL ARTS
At its meeting held in March 2017, the Review Committee reviewed all aspects of the syllabus, with a view to bring it into better alignment with the policies and decisions of the Council with respect to assessment and examination; syllabus development and maintenance; and, the integration of relevant CVQ* Units. The Review Committee developed a draft syllabus with revised Rationale and Aims to reflect the attributes of the Ideal Caribbean Person, UNESCO Pillars of Learning and other areas for consideration based on the political, philosophical and psychological considerations for syllabus development. The Committee also revised and refined the General Objectives, Specific Objectives, Content, Suggested Teaching and Learning Activities and the Resources listed for all Sections. The Review Committee added the Drawing component to each Expressive Form and Digital Photography to Graphic and Communication Design. The latter was renamed Digital Photography and Visual Communication. Fibre and Decorative Arts Expressive Form was also renamed Fibre and Decorative Product Design.

The Format and Structure of the Examination were revised. Paper 01 now comprises Multiple-Choice items, Paper 02, the Production Paper and Paper 03, the School-Based Assessment Portfolio which comprises SIX art-work and Reflective Journal entries based on FOUR of the SIX pieces. The School-Based Assessment is now aligned to selected units from the Level 1 Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) in Photography - Level 1 (CCAVPH1002); Printing and Graphic Arts – Computer Graphic Arts (CCPGG10205); Fabric Design (CCPSFD1004); or, Art and Craft Production - (Textile/Fibre) (CCECC10904). Consequently, once all requirements for issuing the CVQ are met every student with acceptable grades will receive a Statement of Competence to recognise their competencies in selected units. The decisions to award competencies will be based on the quality and relevance of the pieces of evidence presented for the occupational area.

The draft syllabus was submitted to the October 2017 meeting of SUBSEC with the request for approval to complete the revision of the syllabus. Approval was granted. The draft syllabus was sent to resource persons and other stakeholders for comments. A Panel meeting will be convened in January 2018 to complete the revision of the syllabus. The final draft of the syllabus along with the specimen examination papers, keys and mark schemes will be submitted to SUBSEC in April 2018, for approval. The approved syllabus and copies of the specimen examination papers, keys and mark schemes will be distributed to schools in May–June 2018, for first examination in May–June 2020.

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