(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Dr. Lucy Steward, retiring Registrar of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) was honoured at the Opening Ceremony of Sixteenth Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) being convened at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel, Georgetown, Guyana, under the theme: Realising the Potential of Youth and Culture in the Development of the Community.

Presenting the citation on behalf of the COHSOD, CARICOM Deputy Secretary General, Her Excellency Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite lauded Dr. Steward for her sterling contribution to education in the Region and for the quality leadership that she had provided to the CXC for over fourteen years.

Ambassador Applewhaite enumerated the achievements of Dr. Steward and commended her untiring efforts in promoting new initiatives in CXC.

According to the Deputy Secretary General, Dr. Steward, as the unofficial ambassador of CXC, managed to put a face to the organization thus facilitating wide ranging acceptance of its programmes within the Caribbean.

“She has built on the successes of the CXC, thus leaving it in its 34th year of existence greater than she had found it,” Ambassador Applewhaite said.

In her reply, Dr. Steward thanked the COHSOD for the citation and for the support she had received in the work of the Council, and noted that her work was made less challenging because of the high level of professionalism displayed by members of the CARICOM Secretariat and educators in the Region.

Of the achievements of which she was most proud, Dr. Steward said, was the fact that CXC now has students in Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles and were thinking of expanding to other territories. She expressed hope that those two countries would become full members of the Council very soon.

Dr. Steward retired from the Caribbean Examinations Council in 2006 but was asked to serve another year until a suitable replacement was found.

During her tenure, the Council introduced the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) for students of upper Sixth Form as an alternative to the Cambridge, United Kingdom-based GCE Advanced Level exams; the Associate Degree and most recently the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC).