Improving SEA

STUDENT grades have improved, but is the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) process any better?

That is the question we must ask as 18,889 students and their parents once more underwent the annual ritual of SEA results this week.

The Ministry of Education has released statistics suggesting a turnaround in student performance. Those statistics suggest a greater proportion of students passed the examination when compared with previous years. Only 13.55 per cent scored below 30 per cent.

But not only should we consider the grades assigned to students, but also the performance of the State as well. What grade should be awarded?

Our assessment must begin with the events that unfolded on Monday in relation to an online platform to disseminate results.

Such a platform has tremendous benefits. As noted by Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, there are cost savings in not having to have a manual printout of results. But there is also value in allowing students and families to access results from the privacy of home.

Undoubtedly, the pressures surrounding the SEA are aggravated by how public the process has traditionally been. While we agree with chairman of the Presbyterian Primary School Board Vickram Ramlal, who has argued in-person collection of results allows a child to access support networks at school, there is no reason why those networks cannot be accessed from the privacy of one’s home using available tools of communication.

The real issue with the portal, however, is the fact that internet connectivity is uneven, with rural areas less likely to have reliable access.

It is also clear from the breakdown on Monday that the State is yet to work out a system capable of efficiently handling the large volume involved. On this point, the ministry loses marks.

But we need a fuller discussion of not only the process of results distribution but also of what these results mean.

The ministry is suggesting the situation is returning to pre-pandemic levels due to the resumption of in-person classes and the traditional routines associated therein.

At the same time, it is this month expanding its remedial vacation programme, targeting as many as 15,500 students transitioning to secondary school, including students in standards three and four.

The continuation of the programme, which began last year, is an acknowledgement of the fact that initiatives must be sustained consistently over the next five years to truly mitigate the effects of learning loss that occurred.

Yet, another big question is whether any initiative can ever truly rehabilitate the “lost generation” that has already slipped through the covid19 cracks.

And the biggest question of all, one which has dogged governments, is how can the SEA be permanently improved in a manner that best serves all?