Earlier SEA date from next year

PRIMARY SCHOOL students writing the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination next year will do so in March, Education Minister Anthony Garcia said during a press conference at the ministry on St Vincent Street, Port of Spain yesterday.

Garcia said, after consultations with stakeholders in November 2016, Cabinet approved the date of the exam being moved to March instead of May, which would give teachers the opportunity to correct exam scripts over the Easter vacation and allow them more teaching time with students. He said the decision also came about to prevent schools being closed during this time.

“We found that teachers who have been selected to correct these examinations had the opportunity to do so during the two-week Easter vacation and not have to do that during the term to take them out of their classrooms.

“In addition to that, when the exams are held in May, that necessitates the closure of some selected schools
. Having the exam in March would tell us that there is no need to close these schools. That is what we took into consideration.”

Asked if the earlier date would affect the preparation and performance of students, Garcia said after reviewing statistics, there was no evidence that holding the exam in May affected students’ performance.

Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan said there was no significant change in the performance of students writing exams in March compared to May.