Education Minister: No cancellation of SEA 2021

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The date of the 2021 Secondary Assessment Examination (SEA) will remain June 10 but there is consideration for a postponement depending on the spread of COVID-19.

Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said yesterday there would be no cancellation of the exam nor any alternative assessment for placement of any kind at this time, as requested by the National Council of Parent Teachers Association’s (NCPTA).

She told Guardian Media, “The answer is no to both at this time. We spoke with a wide array of education stakeholders last Thursday and this is not the opinion of the majority. The view as communicated is singular to the NCPTA.”

Gadsby-Dolly said the ministry was cognizant of the fact that there were mixed views about postponing SEA. However, she noted, the intention was not to prolong the agony for students, parents and teachers, but to ensure that all students, including the most vulnerable, got the best chance at success.

On Monday, NCPTA president Clarence Mendoza told Guardian Media it was out of the concern for 2021 SEA students having had no physical classroom contact hours since last year due to COVID-19, that they were calling for the cancellation.

Since there will be no cancellation, Guardian Media asked Gadsby-Dolly if the ministry had decided on a possible postponement date for the exam. She said this would depend on COVID-19 numbers and the Ministry of Health’s advice.

“The education stakeholders, with whom we met last week are of the view that the best scenario involves the students getting at least three weeks of face-to-face preparation for the exam. With current restrictions ongoing until May 16, the earliest possible time for physical SEA classes to begin in some form would be May 17; and this, of course, is not certain unless the situation is deemed safe enough.”

Gadsby-Dolly said moving the exam to a possible date of July 1 would allow more time for the numbers to stabilise and may give students the best chance for some face-to-face preparation time.

But she noted it was the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) that was responsible for administering SEA and if any date changes or alternate arrangements were to be made, they would have to be made with CXC soon, as the current schedule was based on a June 10 date.

She said the ministry planned on meeting with the Health Ministry this week to discuss the way forward.

“Any consideration of postponement will be based on the students possibly getting some face-to-face time, as advised by the stakeholders. The Ministry of Education will confer with the Ministry of Health on the matter later this week, giving the restrictions some time to take effect and make a recommendation to the Cabinet thereafter, bearing in mind all viewpoints.”

Guardian Media also reached out to former T&T Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) president Lynsley Doodhai, for his view on the NCPTA’s call. He said there was just not enough time to try a new method to replace the 2021 SEA exam.

“It will be impractical to cancel the examination because you would need some mechanism to place students in the secondary school,” said Doodhai.

Doodhai, who has been an educator for 35 years and is the current principal of the Torrib Trace Presbyterian Primary School in New Grant, Princes Town, agreed it was time for a new form of assessment to be explored but said an experiment this late would be counter-productive.

“I agree it is time for something new, but not for 2021 because I don’t think time will allow us. We’re just a very short time away from the examination in June. So…for 2021 no. We will have to have the exam to have these children placed in a secondary school. But going forward, it is something we will have to consider whether the SEA examination is not satisfying concerning placement of children in secondary schools.”

Doodhai, also the ex-head of the National Primary Schools Principals’ Association (NAPSPA), said if a levelled playing field existed in terms of the secondary schools, there would be no need for an exam but that was not the case.

“Many parents want their children to attend certain schools, right. The examination is used as a placement examination. Going forward post-2021, the decision would have to be made whether the SEA should be maintained or not,” he said.

On NCPTA’s suggestion of abolishing the exam altogether, he said the view was not specific to NCPTA and was nothing new.

“Many, many years ago, almost 15 to 20 years ago, the ministry had started something called the Continuous Assessment Programme (CAP) and under that particular programme, it was envisaged that children would be assessed at various points during their primary school life so that at the end of their primary school, those assessments would be correlated for placement at secondary school, but somewhere along the line that CAP fell off,” he said.