Garcia: Parents cause SEA stress

Education Minister Anthony Garcia says parents should stop placing the burden of stress on their children when preparing for the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam.

The feature speaker at the Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP) graduation ceremony held yesterday at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Port of Spain, Garcia was responding to a report that there was a 20 per cent increase in mental stress for students between Easter to SEA exam.

The report said stress and anxiety sometimes led to students cutting themselves.

He said there were between 100-150 students who had to seek help after expressing anxiety over the exam. “In most of the cases the stress that is being experienced by our students is because of the stress the parents have been placing on the shoulders of the children. I have been asking parents to not place that burden on their children. Some people regard it as a right of passage, a development in their own character that they must go through when they reach that age.

“The SEA is a transition from primary school to secondary school. Let us take it one step at a time. I know many parents would like their children to go to the school of their choice, but unfortunately not all schools are able to accommodate all students. Our teachers are doing everything to ensure that all students are given quality education.”

Garcia said the issue of students cutting themselves never came up during his weekly meetings with his executive team. However, he said the report “made him wonder” and he has asked chief education officer Harrilal Seecharan for a full report.

“I spoke with the CEO who has direct responsibility for the Students Support Services (SSS) Division. He has asked for a meeting and by the end of the day we should have a report because it is our view that not everything has been revealed.

It is important before anybody makes public pronouncements they are first cleared by those who have that responsibility. Everything that is done by the ministry must be sanctioned by the CEO.

“While I don’t want to appear to be making excuses I have to look at the data that comes to me. It has been said before that that at the level of CSEC and CAPE there is a level of stress and I know that because I wrote common entrance and GCE. There is some level of stress and some people will deal with stress different from others. To sensationalise it is not the way to go.”

Speaking about the 1,600 YTEPP graduands, Garcia said he was proud of them for taking advantage of this opportunity. He said not everyone got the opportunity to improve their lives and yesterday’s graduation showed their commitment and dedication to do better.

He said people who had been retrenched had been given a second chance as YTEPPP had stepped up to the plate to ensure that no one was left behind.