Education officials said pupils in Class Three are the most ready to begin the new primary-to-secondary transition assessment, while training and preparatory work will start from Class One.
The issue was raised by a parent during a Ministry of Education Transformation town hall meeting on Thursday, where officials were outlining details of the proposed replacement for the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examination.
Under the proposed system, students would be assessed over Classes Three and Four through a combination of continuous classroom assessments and national standardised tests, replacing the traditional one-day Common Entrance examination.
The parent questioned why the new system could not begin as early as Class One, rather than introducing students in Class Three to a new assessment model.
Acting Chief Education Officer Julia Beckles said the decision was based on students’ developmental readiness and the work already taking place in primary schools.
“So we have determined that those children in Class Three are best prepared given the time that they would have spent in school in terms of their preparation for and their development to be the ones to take on the new transition,” Beckles said.
She noted, however, that preparation for the model would begin much earlier.
“But we will be training everybody, and we will be starting, as you just suggested, with those in Class One.”
While students would begin developing the required skills from the early years of primary school, the formal transition assessment would start in Class Three because those pupils would already have experience with project-based learning, she added.
“Those children are best placed given the time that they would have spent in school and the fact that they have already been engaged in project-based learning.
“They would have done projects since 2024 in their school, and therefore, we have determined that they are the best group to begin the new transition model.”
The ministry is currently hosting a series of public consultations to gather feedback from parents and other stakeholders before the transition model is finalised.
(SM)
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