Pupils confident about performance as NGSA concludes

─ Parents laud breakfast, lunch initiative by gov’t

Pupils who wrote the two-day National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) on Thursday were mostly upbeat, while some expressed mixed emotions, the Department of Public Information (DPI) was present at the St. Gabriel’s and St. Margaret’s Primary schools as they exited the examination room to capture their reactions.     

St. Gabriel’s Primary pupil, Roshanna Ogle said, “I think it was pretty good actually. English is also my good subject, but Mathematics, certain topics I’m not good with.”

Another pupil, Leah Thompson noted, “It was a little bit difficult for me. I think Science and Mathematics were easy.

Jezil Carter said “It was easy…Language and Science. The rest were a bit difficult but I think I did good.”

Nathan McKinnon expressed contentment with his performance, “I feel like I did very good. Yes, I answered all the questions and checked back. I think Maths was the easiest. I think Social Studies might have been the hardest out of the entire bunch.”

Over at St. Margaret’s Primary, the children shared similar sentiments.

Reya Ramdannie stated, “It was kind of challenging and easy at the same time.”

Her friend, Blessings Roberts expressed, “It was good, it was very motivating to the children. Because they brought back everything from the last papers, like from the mock exam.”

Some 16,268 children sat the NGSA at 517 centres across the country.

The children were well equipped for the exams, as the Ministry of Education provided writing materials and made accessibility to learning materials much easier by placing them online. 

Meanwhile, the pupils were also provided with breakfast and lunch over the two days, an initiative that was lauded by many parents. 

Parent, Annmarie Ogle said, “With regard to the breakfast programme, I think that it was one of the best initiatives that they’ve [government] done because my daughter does not like to eat as early as six o’clock. When she gets to school, it’s ready, and she’s able to eat it.”

Another parent Anna Fox noted, “From both the sides of the parent and the children, I think the initiative to provide the breakfast and lunch was really a good one… knowing that something is provided for them, even if you can provide it, you’re happy to know that the ease is kind of there.”