[UPDATED] Over 19,000 to sit SEA 2020

A total of 19,363 primary school students will write the Secondary Entrance Assessment 2020 examination on April 2.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia announced this on Tuesday at a news conference at the ministry on St Vincent Street, Port of Spain.

Garcia said that was the largest number of students to write the exam in ten years.

This exam will focus on creative writing, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Garcia said after the 2019 exam, some parents complained that some students could not answer some of the questions on the paper.

"The curriculum has been designed to ensure that children engaged in critical thinking and problem-solving, not only regurgitating answers as if by rote," he explained. "They are required to engage to that extent in critical thinking and problem-solving."

Garcia said the SEA was essentially a placement exam and was meant to facilitate the transition of students from the primary level to the secondary level.

"It is based on students' performance (and) choice of school by parents. The Constitution of TT guarantees all parents the right to choose the schools for his or her child."

According to the Concordat, the principals of denominational schools have the right to select 20 per cent of their schools' students. This, Garcia said, was to ensure that the religious character of the denominational schools was maintained.

Chief Education Officer Heeralal Seecharan said parents were allowed to apply for concessions for their children. Reasons for concessions include visual or auditory challenges, physical challenges, intellectual, neurological and emotional behaviour.

Last year the ministry extended the date for applying for concessions to June. Seecharan said all applications, even those received after the deadline, will be processed by the Student Support Services Division.

He said concessions were intended to level the playing field and not give students an advantage. The deadline for applying for concessions for students writing the SEA next year is June 18, 2020. He said the ministry has received 574 forms so far.

Seecharan said the ministry has also given parents the option of of whether or not to have their children's names published with their SEA results.

"That decision was taken after the 2019 exam, where we received about 70 applications. The registration process in 2020 will include the option of having their results not published. So far we have received 6,751 students names not to be published."

The CEO said to avoid the chaos of parents having to line up from 2 am to get the first 100 registration forms available to register their children for primary school, a new system has been put in place.

He said the ministry asked schools to schedule for parents to come in from January 3-March 20 during normal school working hours. Principals were also asked to respond to parents between May 15 and 29 so that there are clearly defined periods for registration. Forms can be collected at the district office, at schools or online,

Seecharan cautioned that applying to a school did not guarantee entry. That depended on the age of the student, whether they live in the catchment area, which is a three-mile radius, and whether they had a sibling going to the school.

Garcia said no school was authorised to collect a registration fee from parents, nor did the child have to write an entrance exam.

This story has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

A total of 19,363 primary school students will write the Secondary Entrance Assessment 2020 examination on April 2.

Education Minister Anthony Garcia announced this on Tuesday at a news conference at the ministry on St Vincent Street, Port of Spain.

Garcia said this was the largest number of students to write the exam in ten years.

This exam will focus on creative writing, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Garcia said after the 2019 exam, some parents complained that some students could not answer some of the questions on the paper.

"The curriculum has been designed to ensure that children engaged in critical thinking and problem-solving, not only regurgitating answers as if by rote," he explained. "They are required to engage to that extent in critical thinking and problem-solving."

Garcia said the SEA was essentially a placement exam and was meant to facilitate the transition of students from the primary level to the secondary level.

"It is based on students' performance (and) choice of school by parents. The Constitution of TT guarantees all parents the right to choose the schools for his or her child."

According to the Concordat, the principals of denominational schools have the right to select 20 per cent of their schools' students. This, Garcia said, was to ensure that the religious character of the denominational schools was maintained.