The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is pleased to announce that after a successful trial period, it will continue to provide candidates with e-certificates across the region.

While CXC will still be offering the traditional paper-based certificate, candidates who have registered unique and valid e-mail addresses will now have the option to acquire their official certification through Blockcerts or blockchain-based credentials as a free downloadable e-Certificate in a digital format, immediately available to candidates on their electronic devices once the certificate is ready and available.

The CXC ambitiously kicked off the first regional blockchain-based credential project last October, by issuing e-Certificates to a select group of 24,000 candidates who sat the 2018 May/June examinations. Now candidates from across the region will be able to download their certificates conveniently, securely and quickly onto their devices once available.

Glenroy Cumberbatch, CXC’s Registrar/CEO, said, “Serving 19 countries – this is the first explicitly multinational implementation of digital credentials designed specifically to maximised cross-border employability and transferability of skills in the region. From inception, our primary goal was to empower candidates to have ownership of their records and be able to share them in a secure way, with whomever they choose”.

“The move was also to boost the security and transferability of official examination records. It also helps to prevent the loss of official records. The blockchain, combined with strong cryptography, provides a new security infrastructure that guarantees the authenticity of these records and enables convenient verification,” he added.

CXC e-Certificates will be offered for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exam (CAPE)®, Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC)® and Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC)®.

Mr. Cumberbatch said e-Certificates add value to candidates and to the recipients of the e-Certificates: “Candidates can now have their original record in their possession and control how it is used. They can choose to share their CXC certificate-Certificate publicly, for example, on social media, or send it privately by email or text message. They can even link it to their resume, public portfolio, or applications, so that people, such as potential employers, can verify their qualifications with the click of a button.”

“e-Certificates are tamper-proof and registered on the Bitcoin blockchain, so they can be shared with colleges, universities and clearing houses. Once received, the recipients of e-Certificates independently verify them from anywhere. This comes at no cost to candidates receiving their e-credentials or the colleges, universities and potential employers who can now verify certificates immediately. Verification only requires a mobile device or web browser,” Cumberbatch explained further.

CXC collaborated with Learning Machine in June 2018 to develop the open-source standard for blockchain-based records for Caribbean students. Kausar N. Samli, Learning Machine’s Senior Vice President of Global Services, said, “CXC is among an elite group of institutions that are leading the charge globally for the issuance of secure, portable, and shareable digital credentials. CXC is now building upon last fall’s successful launch of Blockcerts for the issuance of official student records. From this March, the next batch of students will be receiving Blockcerts that will empower them with individual ownership of their official records in a digital format that is portable and easily shareable.”

Learn more about CXC e-certificates here: CXC E-Certificates – What you need to know.

Why CXC e-certificates?

Improve Efficiency No  middle persons required to send or verify an e-certificate. You own it; you send it!	Provide Ownership Empower candidates to own their records and have them verified by anyone they choose anywhere in the world, for further education/employment.
Increase Security Records are secure, tamper-proofand vendor independent.	Prevent Fraud Difficult to imitate records from CXC with cryptographic signatures.

 

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For further information, please contact Tracy Moore, Corporate Communications Consultant at (246) 227 1892 or via e-mail @ tmoore@cxc.org.