No date yet for start of SEA remedial classes in Tobago

The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) is aiming to provide a “more sustained” remedial programme for the island’s vacation revision programme, says Assistant Secretary at the Division of Education, Research and Technology Orlando Kerr.

In Trinidad, more than 2,700 out of a targeted 9,000 students have registered for remedial classes at 26 secondary schools for remedial classes during the July-August vacation period. The programme, by the Ministry of Education, started on Monday and will end on August 12. It caters for students who scored below 50 per cent in the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam.

Kerr told Newsday on Monday, plans for such classes in Tobago are yet to be finalised.

“We are looking at a more sustained programme. We’re not just looking at the vacation period, because we are of the view that that would not be enough.”

While he couldn’t give an exact start date or additional details, he was confident the programme would begin during the vacation period and continue into the start of the new school year in September.

“We’re going to look at the numbers and look at how best we can have that done in terms of having the tutors in the schools to help those students who are having challenges.”

After the release of the SEA results on July 7, Secretary Zorisha Hackett said there has been a significant decline in the performance of Tobago students. She said 278 students passed for their first choice, and 128 students are required to re-sit the exam.

Giving a breakdown of the mean scores, Hackett said the average was 33.8 per cent in maths and for English language and creative writing, 39.4 per cent and 39.9 per cent respectively.

She said 296 students (29.6 per cent) scored above the national mean in maths, 390 students (39.6 per cent) scored above the national mean in English language and 391 students (39.7 per cent) in creative writing.

She said the results suggest there is much work to be done, not just at SEA level but in all classes leading up to standard five.