Case for return of NationalTest and CAP

THE EDITOR: The decision makers in the Ministry of Education and, by extension, the Government have found themselves in quite a dilemma as far as the future of education is concerned.

This situation has largely come about due to the sudden appearance of the covid19 virus which has somewhat thrown all previous plans into a tailspin. Its effects could not be planned for since it’s largely novel to the world. Globally, planners may have been able to handle maladies such as dengue and zika because we have seen the effects of these before but covid19 is new to the world.

However, it is believed that the impact over the uncertainty of exams could have been cushioned if the plans for the Continuous Assessment Programme (CAP) and National Tests in primary schools had been allowed to bear fruit.

Continuous assessment tracked the progress of students from Std 1 through Std 4 and covered all subject areas, including visual and creative arts. National Tests assessed Stds 1 and 3 in mathematics and language arts while Stds 2 and 4 were tested in science and social studies.

So, by the time a student reached Std 5 he/she would have been tested in all the main subjects. All marks were recorded and analysed.

Consequently, with the disruption in education by covid19 it would have been easy to place students in secondary schools as there would have been more reliable testing and scores over the years – instead of a one-off high stakes test in Std 5.

Maybe we should reintroduce CAP and the National Test.

WKS HOSEIN

Chaguanas