Teachers’ union presses for national school AI rules after CXC scraps most SBAs

The Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) wants the Government to create a national framework governing artificial intelligence (AI) in classrooms, after the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) reworked its School-Based Assessment (SBA) model to counter generative AI.

In a Friday statement, the union said it accepts CXC’s duty to safeguard the soundness and global standing of its awards, yet argued the overhaul lays bare deeper strains in Jamaica’s schools.

“The concerns raised extend far beyond the administration of regional examinations,” the JTA said. “They have wider implications for Jamaica’s education system and demand an urgent national conversation about teaching, learning, assessment and the responsible use of artificial intelligence.”

On Thursday, CXC said it will drop the conventional SBA for most non-practical Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) subjects, substituting Paper 032 — an exercise sat under exam conditions.

The shift, starting in the 2027 academic year, is meant to keep student evaluation trustworthy as AI grows better at producing essays, reports and other coursework.

Only practical areas such as Agricultural Science, Visual Arts, Music, Physical Education, Technical Drawing, and Food, Nutrition and Health will keep the traditional SBA, with tighter moderation.

CXC registrar and chief executive officer Dr Wayne Wesley said the council’s mandate is to keep its credentials believable.

“The integrity of our qualifications is not negotiable,” Wesley said, noting that although the SBA supported Caribbean learners for almost five decades, CXC had to intervene once the old approach could no longer reliably judge students’ work.

The JTA countered that the move also shows CXC did not foresee how quickly AI would reshape schooling.

“CXC appears to have been caught largely unprepared and has, to some extent, become a casualty of the very technological transformation it is now seeking to manage,” the association said, pointing out that worries over authorship, originality and academic honesty had surfaced for years.

While calling the reforms essential, the union cautioned that swapping the SBA for Paper 032 tackles only a slice of the challenge.

“The misuse of AI is not confined to students completing SBAs. It affects homework, internal examinations, research assignments, lesson planning, tertiary education and the broader production and evaluation of knowledge,” the statement said.

“It requires a comprehensive regional strategy for AI literacy, ethical conduct and authentic assessment.”

The association also flagged fairness risks, warning that uneven access to devices, stable internet, AI tools and well-prepared teachers could deepen gaps between students.

It argued learners must be guided not merely to operate AI, but to question its answers, spot errors and bias, credit its use correctly, and refrain from passing off machine-written work as their own.

The JTA is therefore pressing the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information to quickly assemble teachers, principals, parents, students, universities, assessment professionals and technology specialists to craft a national AI-in-education policy.

“Schools cannot be left to navigate these complex ethical, instructional and assessment issues individually,” the association said.

Under CXC’s timetable, CAPE candidates in non-practical subjects will sit Paper 032 in the May–June 2027 series. For CSEC, schools may choose either the traditional SBA or Paper 032 in 2027, with the new paper compulsory from 2028.

CXC Director of Operations Dr Nicole Manning said the updated approach still supports sustained learning while rebuilding trust that students’ work is genuine.

“A CXC qualification means something,” Manning said. “It means something to employers, to universities, to parents, families and guardians, who have invested years of commitment and sacrifice into a child’s education.”