CaribEd, a 501(c)3 organization, was founded in March 2020 to address the learning disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to students in Guyana preparing for the high-stakes National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA). We have since expanded to serve as a supplementary and emergency back-up educational resource for all grade six students living within the 16 countries participating in the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC).

OUR CALL TO ACTION
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In 2020, necessary COVID-19 measures have prevented students from attending school, abruptly cutting off many from access to education. In addition, political crises since the General and Regional elections on March 2nd have placed more pressure on communities across the country, resulting in some children being afraid to go to school.

When founder Shawn Shivdat was alerted of this situation by his friends living in Guyana—he assembled a team of students, passionate about education, from various universities (including Harvard and University of Guyana) to partner with organizations in Guyana to publish, print, and distribute high-quality educational materials catered specifically to students planning to take the NGSA.

‍IMPORTANCE OF THE NATIONAL GRADE 6 ASSESSMENT
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NGSA (formerly known as the Common Entrance Examination) is used to transition students from primary to secondary education. School closures in a country where the majority of the population does not have internet access have left many students preparing for the NGSA in the dark with little means to succeed. Even in neighborhoods with some internet access, the quality of service is extremely poor. For students in Guyana, particularly those in low-income families, the lockdown will unfortunately weigh heavily on their education and future career success.

While we initially created CaribEd to address disruptions caused by COVID-19, we soon realized that the need for supplementary educational resources has existed long before the current pandemic and political crises began. From 2013-2019, the exam had persistently fairly low pass rates of, on average, 36% in Math, 40% in Science, 44% in Social Studies, and 49% in English. Traditionally, students who fail this exam will continue to community high schools with few career prospects. For 11-year old Guyanese students, passing the exam could mean the difference between having the opportunity to pursue a successful career or having limited resources for upward mobility.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

​Since CaribEd's creation, our team has broadened our target demographic to all grade six students living within the 16 countries participating in the CXC taking primary exit or secondary entrance exams. Our team of over 50 students aims to restore hope to students living in the Caribbean facing academic disadvantages, with a focus on supporting low-income students outside of the urban core, by providing a variety of engaging supplementary educational resources distributed in printed copies and available online.  We've received the Harvard iLab 2020 Spark Grant & Social Impact Fellowship Fund for our work.