Mixed reactions to SEA date announcement

Minister of Education Anthony Garcia’s announcement that the Secondary Entrance Examination (SEA) will be written on August 20 has been met with mixed reactions from some stakeholders.

The TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) and the National Parent-Teachers Association (NPTA) said they were not in favour of the date announced on Wednesday.

TTUTA president Antonia De Freitas said the proposed date and the idea of a stipend were presented to the association.

She said the general council disagreed with the date and insisted the exam should be written in October – four to six weeks after the reopening of schools in September.

She said teachers did not agree with having the exam in August, as they felt the students will not be equitably treated across the country, as many students do not have access to computers and / or internet access to facilitate learning during the period of school closure owing to the covid19 pandemic.

De Freitas said the union would continue to discuss with the ministry what adjustment would need to be made to the curriculum and the workload if the proposed restructuring of the term takes place, especially for new form one students.

“If you are changing the duration of your term, obviously you cannot be pressuring teachers, students, and parents to do the heavy amount of work that you would traditionally do. This points to a point we have made as well that now is the time for us to re-examine our reliance on high-stakes assessments and perhaps utilise alternatives to those end-of-term tests that we rely on so heavily, develop alternatives to possibly the SEA as well to help students as well. So going forward, those are some of the discussions that TTUTA would want to have.”

Acting NPTA president Clarence Mendoza said the organisation also feels the examination should be held in October and has written to the Prime Minister and the inter-ministerial team on the matter. He said he had several questions for the ministry on the matter.

Mendoza asked what the rationale was for having students stay home for approximately two months before being placed in secondary schools, or if they will be returning to their primary schools during that time. He also asked if the students would be receiving additional food cards during this time was concerned about the supervision of children as parents return to work.

He asked whether the students would be taught virtually while at home for the two-month period and who would be teaching the classes if the students had not been placed, or if the parents would have to pay for extra lessons.

Parents reacted positively to the announcement of the date. Newsday worker Carol Quash said she was relieved. She said her son was tired of online classes and wanted to interact with his friends and teacher face-to-face. Others on social media expressed similar sentiments. Most said the announcement alleviated stress and anxiety in their families and their children felt relieved. Others said their children were not receiving adequate teaching online and so were still anxious. Yet others said they were concerned about the proposed physical distancing measures and the proposal for students to possibly wear masks during school.