Education Ministry, stakeholders: No hiccups for SEA 2022

The Ministry of Education and its stakeholders have all reported smooth sailing for this year's Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exams on Thursday.

A statement from the ministry said the exam was held in 552 centres across Trinidad and Tobago.

Gadsby-Dolly said, “After monitoring the day’s operations, I am happy to report that the examination was implemented without any major disruptions.”

The statement said 19,189 students were registered to sit the exam – 9,901 boys and 9,288 girls, though initial data showed 193 students in Trinidad were unable to attend as planned.

“Reports from principals indicate that 44 of those candidates were absent due to covid19-related reasons.”

Catholic Education Board of Management (CEBM) CEO Sharon Mangroo told Newsday only a few of its students were unable to attend.

“One has a death in the family, another had flu-like symptoms, and another was ill,” she said.

She said, however, for the students who did attend, the exam went smoothly.

“We did a lot of work with them before the exam,” she said, adding prayers and mass were held over the weekend to help ease the minds of students and parents beforehand.

The ministry’s statement also said students who registered but were unable to sit the exam will be allowed to sit the make-up exam on April 21.

Gadsby-Dolly thanked the 3,400 members of staff and external stakeholders who contributed to the success of the exam.

“The task to successfully manage (all) centres for the SEA exam is mammoth. The ministry is extremely grateful for the support received from our students, parents, principals, teachers, invigilators, support and janitorial staff, security staff, school supervisors, staff of the Division of Educational Research and Evaluation (DERE), Examination and Curriculum Divisions and other ministry staff, the TT Electricity Commission (TTEC), Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), the National Maintenance and Security Company (MTS) and other agencies.”

It said 436 candidates with special needs received concessions in Trinidad and four in Tobago. These included extra time, sign-language interpretation, large-print or Braille scripts, preferential seating, provision of a writer or reader and other forms of support.

The statement said the ministry expects results will be available for collection during the first week of July.

Principals were also happy with how the exams were carried out.

In a brief phone conversation with Newsday Gandhi Memorial Vedic Primary School principal Kehsmani Dhaniram-Gosine said students had no complaints about the exams afterward and supervisors were nice to the children.

She said students were well prepared.

“Parents and teachers worked hard with them. There were online challenges, but once the students were back out, it helped with preparation.”

She said teachers were all relieved the exam is now behind them and look forward to the full return of students in April, as it will help relieve some of the challenges of online learning.

General secretary of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) Vijay Maharaj said while a few of its schools had a delay in the start time of about 15-20 minutes, administrators had it all under control and there were no other hiccups.

“Sometimes these things happen,” he said. “I am awaiting a comprehensive report, but from all indications things went smoothly.”

He said principals were happy and so were students, with a few principals saying some students indicated challenges with the essay paper, but were otherwise happy with their performance.

He said there were no major incidents other than a few parents who wanted to linger at schools for the three hours and 20 minutes of the exam to wait for their children, but were asked to leave.

Now, he said, “The parents are exhaling and we move forward to results.”