Securing financial stability and efficiency

One of the strategic objectives for the period 2015-2020 speaks to securing financial stability through sustainable revenue growth; increased efficiency and expense management. This section of the report, provides information on activities and initiatives undertaken by divisions in 2017 aimed at accomplishing this objective.

Finance and Office Management

The Finance and Office Management Division (FOM) has the responsibility of managing CXC’s financial affairs and providing logistical and operational support to the wider organisation.
The main areas of focus were as follows:

• Accounting
• Compliance
• Management and Control
• Strategy and Risk Management
• Funding
• Property Management
• Procurement
• Timely and Efficient Delivery of Goods and Services

The finance function ensures adherence to generally accepted accounting standards and practices and ensures prudence in the management of CXC’s finances in the discharge of its duties. Part of the financial reporting function also includes the implementation and monitoring of internal controls, ensuring that there is adequate segregation of duties and approval for all transactions.

The Finance and Office Management Division continues to provide financial direction to the organisation to ensure that the strategic objectives are achieved. With little growth in the candidate and subject entries and decreases in some subject areas, the focus has been on expense management; cost containment and a rigorous review of existing processes to create greater efficiencies.
With the various operational changes impacting the method of doing business, there is a need to adapt/ amend existing processes to the new programmes to ensure efficiencies are realised. Compliance with procurement guidelines and ensuring that the best price is obtained for items of expenditure continue to be critical along with a review of major cost drivers.
Data is critical to effective decision making and as a result the emphasis has been on utilising business intelligent tools. Greater use of ICT tools to improve operational efficiency continues to be an area of focus. The utilization of the online banking facility has broadened banking relationships with various institutions across the region where accounts are held in the various territories. There are still some territories where these accounts do not exist and efforts are ongoing to establish direct banking relationships to ensure that resource persons and other stakeholders are paid timely.

There have been discussions on providing additional payment options for the receipt of payment for products and services offered by the Council. Our customer focus is to offer alternative payment methods which would accommodate stakeholders who require other options apart from the traditional payment methods.

The availability of funds is critical to ensuring that the strategic objectives of the organisation are met along with the daily financial requirements. This starts with a robust budgeting process; the actual inflow of cash is critical to managing the resource requirements of the organisation. However, the collection of outstanding receivables is necessary to ensuring that there are adequate resources. This has become even more critical given the current economic conditions and requires frequent follow up especially where the terms of payment are not followed.

The Office Management section of the Division is responsible for all aspects of the property relating to the plant and equipment. The section is also responsible for managing the accommodation needs of CXC®, provision of travel for staff and resource personnel and the management of courier services and ensuring that the plant and equipment is properly maintained.

The Division in collaboration with the Human Resources Division ensures that CXC® complies with Health and Safety regulations. The delivery of services with respect to office accommodation remains critical and the ways these services have been delivered continues to be reviewed.

Continuous Improvement

As a service division, customer service is critical and has been identified as an area for improvement. The customer service charter is currently being developed and this will be used as a framework for the timely delivery of quality services by the division. The use of internal surveys to obtain feedback and to measure service delivery will be used in the future.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be developed and used to measure and monitor performance. A significant reduction of manual processes will also help to improve the timely delivery of services.

Examinations Administration and Security

E-Testing was expanded from 12 components in January session to 57 components in the May-June session. To support this activity, the division provided orientation/engagement and training for Local Registrars and Invigilators in all Participating Countries. While the initial engagement sessions were done at CXC’s Headquarters in 2016, the 2017 sessions were via webinar and virtual meetings led by Sandra Thompson and Paula Nicholls.

E-SBA was expanded to allow samples to be submitted online except for CSEC® Visual Arts and CAPE® Art and Design. Though some centres experienced a few hiccups across the region, most territories reported satisfaction with the overall performance of the new system. The May-June session saw a doubling of the number of papers that were marked electronically. This resulted in over 600 electronically marked questions. Unfortunately, again this year, marking in a few subjects continued into August.

Corporate Strategy and Business Development

CXC® Charitable Arm
CXC® has announced its intention to establish a charitable arm of the organization, aimed at supporting crucial educational initiatives. CXC® has since invited respected members of the public and private sector across the region to serve as trustees. The organisation continues to work on the development of the charity and looks forward to its institution and the announcement of the full board of trustees.

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and CXC® on 12 September 2017 has a three (3) year term in which ACCA and CXC® will collaborate to benefit learners across all CXC® countries. Areas of collaboration include syllabus and examination development, CSEC® and CAPE® Accounting awards for top performers as well as a CAPE® internship programme. CXC® and ACCA will also explore other potential areas where co-operation would be of mutual benefit.

RM Results (RM)
RM Results (RM) is focused on helping teachers to teach and learners to learn, by developing engaging, inspiring solutions for the effective use of technology in education. As part of this focus and to inspire the development of information communication technology (ICT) in schools, RM has committed to collaborating with CXC® on the Annual CXC® Regional Top Awardees Ceremony Programme. CXC® and RM look forward to finalising the details of the specific opportunities selected with a view to executing a full partnership agreement.

Examinations Development and Production Division
CXC’s consulting service: Examinations Development and Production Division developed and provided support to all examination programmes that CXC® is contracted by other organizations to develop.

In 2017, the Division developed the following examination papers:

(a) BSSEE – 6_ papers for _3__ subjects
(b) TTSEA – 6_ papers for _3__ subjects
(c) NGTA – 8_ papers for _2__ subjects
(d) NGFA – 10_ papers for _2__ subjects
(e) NGSA – 16_ papers for _4__ subjects
(f) St Maarten – 16_ papers for _4__ subjects
(g) RENR – 16_ papers for _4__ subjects
(h) BTPE – 1_ papers for _1__ subjects