AI in Education takes Centre Stage as Regional Ministers of Education Meet
The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC®) will convene its 4th Ministerial Summit with Ministers of Education from around the region, at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre in the twin-island Republic this Wednesday, 23 October beginning at 9:00 AM AST, with the proceedings being live streamed via CXC® TV at www.cxc.org/cxctv.
CXC® is collaborating with the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, to host this Summit, a day before the CARICOM Council of Human and Social Development (COHSOD) Ministers of Education Meetings, where the regional policymakers gather for idea sharing and strategic planning.
The focus of this year’s CXC® Summit is on Artificial Intelligence and Technological Innovations in Shaping Caribbean Education. At the event’s opening ceremony, the keynote address will be delivered by the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, with key remarks from Dr the Honourable Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Education and co-host. Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Chairman of CXC® and Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies will officially host and welcome the ministerial delegations to the Summit and will bring remarks. Dr Wayne Wesley, the Registrar and CEO of CXC® will bring remarks and Dr Eduardo Ali, Pro-Registrar and Deputy CEO, will review the 3rd Ministerial Summit held last year in Barbados, and share the strategic purpose and intent of the 2024 Summit.
The event programme will feature presentations and round tables from regional Ministers, two plenary sessions, one with a panel of university academics collectively interrogating the impact of technological innovations on Caribbean Education and how regional policymakers and educators can work smarter using AI.
Dr Wesley, who has been a vocal proponent for the integration of AI into the education and assessment ecosystem, shared how CXC® has been embracing AI in its own organisational transformation. At the event, he will advise on CXC®’s strategic approach using Generative AI and present ideas for a regional Responsive Generative AI Policy for Secondary Education.
“We have embraced AI as an imperative,” offered Dr Wesley. “We are now exploring AI tools to help enhance our operations. Generative AI can be used to enhance the way we teach, how students learn and how we ethically assess learners. We are infusing AI in all aspects of our qualifications, syllabus, teacher development, assessment and administrative processes. Among our varied development programmes, CXC® is advancing an initiative to increase numeracy and English literacy where learners can benefit from the use of AI in a diagnostic assessment for improving their learning and engagement in the regional education system. We are also exploring ways to utilise AI to digitise information we have, for dissemination to learners, making it more engaging and interactive but
more importantly, incorporating information which is culturally relevant to the region”, added the CXC® Registrar and CEO.
Presentations by the regional Ministers at the one-day Summit will cover global and regional perspectives and policies on AI in Education, technological innovations shaping credentials, curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment as well as the future potential of generative AI in Caribbean education strategies and processes.
