All primary grade assessments to meet regional, international standards – Education Minister at NGSA 2016 results announcement

Georgetown, GINA, July 5, 2016

The Ministry of Education has commenced collaboration with the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to improve the quality of all primary grade assessments, according to Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine.

Addressing a press conference at National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), this morning, during the announcement of the results of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), Minister Roopnaraine explained that the objective of this will see consultations with education stakeholders across the country. This will ensure that all assessments conform to regional and international test development and administration standards and expectations to facilitate consistent, reliable measurements and tracking of pupils’ performance.

The Minister also disclosed that the analysis of the 2016 NGSA results will have deep implications for the instructional approaches adopted by teachers, going forward.

The practice of drilling and teaching to the test that had been adopted over the years will do little to benefit pupils in this new dispensation, the Minister pointed out.

The Minister added that work will be ongoing throughout the system to ensure that teachers focus on fully teaching the appropriate concepts and raise pupils’ competence levels rather than employing the antiquated traditional approaches.