All set for 19,000 SEA students

ALL is set for over 19,000 primary school students to sit the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam today. Head of the TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) Lynsley Doodhai told Newsday he received no complaints about schools not being ready for the exam.

“TTUTA would like to extend best wishes and best of luck to all students are writing the SEA exam tomorrow.

We are confident the students have been well prepared for their examinations and will do great,” Doodhai said. Doodhai said he was aware that children from the Nipal Presbyterian School in Tableland will sit the exam at the nearby Elswick Presbyterian School.

“Nipal Presbyterian has been experiencing sewer problems for a while.

“They have five students who will be writing the exams and they have been being going to classes in Elswick for a little while,” he said.

Meanwhile, the 161 students of the Princes Town Presbyterian No 1 and 2 schools who are sitting the exam, will do so at the No 2 School in Craignish Village, Princes Town.

Both schools have been plagued with problems for years as parents continue to call on the Ministry of Education to rebuild the No 1 school. The school’s Parent Teacher Association held several protests calling on Education Minister Anthony Garcia for action.

A PTA representative said a prayer service was held for the students yesterday in preparation for today’s exams.

Chairman of the Presbyterian Primary School Board, the Rev Anthony Rampersad said he has been in contact with principals of the 72 Presbyterian primary schools and has not received any reports of issues to do with examination preparations.

He also wished students well, saying they should be calm, focused and confident in the exam room, as they have been well prepared.

He said that ongoing issues at the Princes Town No 1 and No 2 schools are worrying but hopes the students will perform well despite the hardships they faced throughout the school year.

However, he said the only way the board will know how the circumstances affected the children is when results are released.He said the board has been pleading with the government to inform it about progress at the various schools earmarked for construction and under construction, but was being told the ministry has no money.

He said it was unfair for students not to be afforded the same comfort at school as others and put them students at a disadvantage.

Head of the Maxi Taxi Concessionaires Association Rodney Ramlogan said the 300 drivers contracted to transport schoolchildren will be out today.

He said the drivers will do whatever it takes to get the children to school for the exam in spite of their ongoing struggles to be paid.