CXC education system
On St. Eustatius and Saba, education is in English. Therefore, the Saba Comprehensive School on Saba and the Gwendoline van Putten School on St. Eustatius use the Caribbean English CXC education system of the Caribbean Examination Council. It is a globally recognised education system, students who complete their CXC education can continue their studies in the Caribbean, the US and Canada as well as in the Netherlands.
In the CCSLC lower secondary, all students are placed together. After completing the lower secondary, the students progress to either the academic direction (similar to the Theoretical Curriculum or Senior General Secondary Education (HAVO)) or to vocational education (similar to Senior Secondary Vocational Education (MBO)). The academic direction is called CSEC in the CXC system. This stands for Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate. The vocational education direction is called CVQ. CVQ is the abbreviation for Caribbean Vocational Qualification. Both directions take two years to complete. Students who want to go to university can follow the two-year CAPE direction after the CSEC. CAPE stands for Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination.
CAPE
This two-year programme can be followed after obtaining the CSEC certificate and is comparable to professional and intellectual capabilities at the level of Pre-University Education (VWO), this diploma gives access to advanced scientific education.
