Don’t grade SBAs

UPDATE:

EDUCATION Minister Anthony Garcia says the TT Unified Teachers Association’s (TTUTA) advice that teachers should not grade school-based assessments (SBAs) is not based on remuneration, but because there was no standardised policy document. Garcia spoke at a news conference yesterday at the ministry in Port of Spain.

Garcia met with key stakeholders yesterday morning including the National Parent Teacher Association (NPTA), the Association of Public Secondary Schools Principals and the Association of Assisted Secondary Schools Principals. Garcia said he is concerned about this instruction from TTUTA, saying there is a need for further discussions to resolve this problem.

All parties agreed there was no need to engage in a public squabble with the union. He said TTUTA was not a part of the meeting, as it had made its position public and the tone of the pronouncement gave the impression that that position was intractable. Garcia said the ministry had the responsibility for the way the education system should be organised, and according to the Education Act, the Education Minister had the responsibility to direct the system in accordance with the dictates set by Cabinet.

“We consulted with our legal department and we have in our position a legal opinion. I will take that legal opinion to the Attorney General, who is legal adviser to Cabinet, so that there would be some synergy where those opinions are concerned,” he said. He said he would also write to the Chief Personnel Officer (Beresford Riley) on Monday.

Chief Education Minister Harrilal Seecharan said there was no issue over conducting SBAs, but there were some concerns about the administration in terms of standardising the process. He said the system of administration could lead to communication issues between the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), schools and the ministry.

SBAs were done for all 33 subjects at the CSEC and 23 were done at CAPE. The SBA contributed 20 per cent of the students’ final mark. Permanent secretary Lenor Baptiste-Simmons said one issue to be considered was the timing and planning and “projectising” of the activity, which she said meant ensuring parents were involved.

Teachers felt overburdened and that it was difficult to undertake the task, she said, but if it were streamlined and a timeline undertaken, the burden became less. She said the recommendation was to begin a process of parallel thinking in which everyone came up with solutions that were workable. Baptiste said the SBA was an informative way to assess students over time, and also allowed teachers to work with the students to improve their grades. First vice president of the Association of Public Secondary Schools Principals Phillip Kalloo said grading SBAs took a lot of time, which took a lot out of teachers, and students also felt the strain because of the amount of work that they had to do.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Education Minister Anthony Garcia said the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) advise that teachers not grade School-Based Assessments (SBAs) was not based on remuneration, but because there was an absence of a standardised policy document.

Garcia was speaking during a news conference yesterday at the ministry's head office, St Vincent Street, Port of Spain.

Garcia met with key stakeholders yesterday morning including the National Parent Teacher Association (NPTA) and the National Primary Schools' Principals Association.

He said he was concerned about this suggestion from TTUTA, saying they needed to have further discussions to resolve the issue.

Garcia said as Education Minister, he has sought legal advice and was given an opinon by the attorney, which he would present to the Attorney General and the Chief Personnel Officer on Monday.