SEA RESULTS TODAY — A PLACE FOR EVERY CHILD

Health Minister Colm Imbert who is acting on behalf of Education Minister Hazel Manning, will continue the tradition of  visiting students at their schools on result day today, as the Secondary En-trance Assessment (SEA) results are released.

This was confirmed yesterday by sources at the Ministry of Education, who said Imbert would be visiting the Newtown Girls RC School, at around 8.15 am. Mrs Manning, who left the country on Sunday to accompany Prime Minister Patrick Manning to the 24th Caricom Summit being held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, is attending the conference in her capacity as the PM’s wife, and not as the Minister of Education, revealed the source. Questioned as to when Mrs Manning would be returning, the source said they could not confirm the date, but that it would be sometime over the weekend. However, they assured that the SEA results would be released as normal despite the minister’s absence, and that there would be no delays or problems. The source also stated that school principals can collect the results at  8 am, as they are accustomed doing.

Some 20,669 students wrote this year’s exam, and in a release from the Education Ministry two weeks ago, they stated that 21,912 places existed at both private and public secondary schools throughout TT. At the time of the release, the Minister had reaffirmed her promise that all students would gain a  place in a secondary institution. Students are assigned to secondary schools based on the following criteria:- student’s performance (merit), parents’ choices, principal’s 20 percent selection (denominational schools) and gender. Registration of students assigned to secondary schools begins in some schools today. A listing of the schools, registration dates and information on procedures for the transfer of students will be published in the press along with the results of the SEA. Attempts to contact former Education Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for a comment proved futile as calls to her cell phone went unanswered.