Students, parents weigh-in on challenges preparing for SEA exam

SOME parents and students lamented on the challenges both faced in preparing for this year's SEA exam due to the covid19 pandemic.

Several students and parents spoke on the issue of preparing for the exam on Thursday afternoon at Movie Towne in Port of Spain where the students to enjoy and relax after they sat the exam.

The children agreed that restrictions on the holding of physical classes over the past two years made preparing for the exam a bit harder as they had to balance studies with online classes with the latter having its own issues such as connectivity problems.

Naomi Morgan of Barataria RC said the exam was easy. "I was not nervous going into the exam. There wasn't anything I wasn't prepared for or didn't learn.

"I feel I was well-prepared but covid19 bothered me a bit. Being online was hard and learning online was difficult. Being face-to-face coming down to the end, before the exam was easier. Having my teachers in the same room guiding me was so much better than looking at a computer screen."

Shai Joseph of St Ursula Primary School agreed with Morgan, saying it was difficult to grasp some of the teachings given online especially with Math. While being confident in her performance, Joseph said the performance at this year's exam would have been better had in-school classes been held.

"But I understand why this was not possible because of the pandemic."

"If I could, I would like to try the maths again. It's hard to learn maths during a pandemic through a laptop. It was a challenge but I am very happy the exam is over," she said.

Sacred Heart Girls RC student Jania Brooks thanked her mother and teachers for their support. "They were the ones who pushed me and made sure I got through the entire lesson. I mom was there for me all the way."

Her mother said online learning was a challenge since such a format was done out of necessity (because of the pandemic) during the Standards 4 and 5 phase of her daughter's education, with no prior training or preparations from both teachers and the students.

"There are lessons children won't understand online as they would in a school with a person to person interaction with the teacher. Parents had to become teachers. It was a lot of hard work but I'm glad it's over and I know she put in the hard work," Brooks' mother said.

Sariya Wilson of Newtown Girls RC said she was able to find creative ways to focus and overcome the challenges of covid19.

"I didn't have any challenges to get the work done because of covid19. The Math was difficult but I think I will do good."

Darion Reid, a student of La Horquetta North Government Primary told Newsday parts of the Math exam were tricky but despite this, he was confident he did well. Darion's mother Cimone Franklyn-Reid said she is relieved all the hard work is over.

"This was a long and hard journey. I think too much pressure was placed on our children but they had no choice but to adapt. It was challenging for my son to be online, he was unsettled and I had to buy glasses because of the long period he spent behind a screen...it interfered with his eyes.

"I really hope they can find an alternative to this very stressful exam for primary school children."