The Express got a copy of the paper around 1 p.m. Thursday, an hour after the test started for CAPE students throughout the Caribbean. But the source who provided the paper only received it around 10 a.m., two hours before the start of the exam.
This copy of the exam paper was compared with the original at the end of the two-and-a-half-hour exam; they were the same.
Several copies were sold to students in the north and in the south.
The Ministry of Education was told about the leak around 11 a.m. but could not stop the exams from going ahead, as a directive to this effect could only come from the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Board in Barbados which is responsible for setting both the CXC and CAPE examinations.
The Education Minister Esther Le Gendre said that based on a preliminary examination of the leaked paper supplied by The Express, ministry officials were reasonably certain that the breach occurred outside the Ministry's jurisdiction. She said investigations into the matter are continuing.
"The CXC headquarters (in Barbados) has been advised and it is looking into the matter," she said.
CAPE is supplied to all
(Trinidad Express)