The union representing secondary school teachers and a group of concerned parents have welcomed the Ministry of Education’s decision to delay the use of continuous assessment as the basis for secondary school placement.
During a ministerial statement on Friday, Minister of Education Transformation Chad Blackman announced that while the transition to continuous assessment as the determining factor for placement had been postponed, the framework would be introduced as part of primary school teaching and learning this academic year.
President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) Mary-Anne Redman said the union supported the postponement but maintained that continuous assessment was the way forward as an alternative to the traditional one-off, high-stakes examination.
“This continuous assessment involves things like oral presentations, student portfolios, reflections, group work, etc. So that it moves this assessment as a tool for transition from primary to secondary towards something that allows students to show their creative learning journey as well, and so we are definitely in favour as a union of this type of assessment.”
Redman said the union believed the traditional examination had served its purpose.
“It’s our belief that that type of exam has served its purpose historically, and it no longer has any place in our 21st-century society and one that has had universal access to secondary education for decades now.”
She said postponing the transition would provide more time to prepare teachers for the new system.
“It would allow for them to engage in more widespread and fulsome training of primary school teachers generally in relation to this continuous assessment. So larger numbers of teachers would be effectively prepared for the process. That training too would also be more strategic and involve larger numbers of teachers while at the same time not removing certain sets of teachers from the classroom environment.”
Redman said the additional time would also allow the Ministry to provide the necessary resources and better prepare students and teachers.
She called for training to extend beyond teachers currently assigned to Classes 3 and 4.
“The unions raised the whole notion of training larger numbers of teachers in the primary system and not just those presently engaged in teaching classes 3 and 4 because with the rotation of teachers and so on at that level; one, a teacher does not teach class 3 consistently for his or her professional life, or class 1, and therefore movement across the various levels requires that all teachers be trained in this continuous assessment process so that it does not disadvantage the students and so the need for wider training, more strategic training is recognised.”
Meanwhile, spokesperson for the group of concerned parents Paula-Ann Moore welcomed the decision and highlighted the importance of parents having a voice in the education reform process.
Paula Ann Moore, spokesperson and coordinator for the Group of Concerned Parents of Barbados. (File Photo)
“A hallmark of a modern democracy is that regular citizens feel empowered to advocate constructively for the best interests of their family and to hold our leaders to account…it is wonderful to see other parents also having the courage to come forward in greater numbers, including last week, to represent their children’s best interests via the petition signed by nearly 400 to date.”
Moore commended Blackman and his team for reconsidering the timing of the proposed replacement of the 11-plus examination.
“As we and others had previously suggested, we look forward to our continued partnership with the ministry and other education stakeholders so that the remaining concerns are addressed, and a complete transformation plan with clear performance indicators is provided.”
She said such a major change to the education system should follow established education and change-management practices.
“These include the fullest engagement of parents as key stakeholders, as co-architects in planning and implementing this change; strategic change such as this requires adequate time and other resources, two-way communication, phased implementation, and more.”
Moore also stressed the importance of maintaining parents’ confidence in the process.
“Parents must feel confident and trust the process. Once that trust is gone, it is difficult to regain; we cannot rush the brush. That trust can only be built over time and with adequate detail provided.”
She said education transformation was too important to Barbadian families and national development to get wrong.
“We have one chance to get it right. Too much is at stake,” Moore said, while warning against inadvertently widening the gap between the “haves and the have-nots”.
(LG)
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