The education ministry is now developing a National Examinations Act, which will result in administrative changes to the legal and regulatory framework of examinations.

The ministry says this is being done to protect the integrity of examinations and the rights of students.

The director of communications in the Education Ministry, Colin Blair, says a new policy has also been drafted and is to be sent to the education minister, Andrew Holness shortly.

He says the importance of the policy is now being highlighted in the wake of the financial challenges being faced by Hutton’s Education Unit.

Close to 1,000 students were at risk of not sitting CSEC and Cape exams because their fees had not been paid to the Overseas Examinations Commission (OEC) on time.

However, Hutton’s yesterday signed an agreement with the Commission for the payment of the late fees, which will allow the students to sit the exams.