Hazel promises places for all SEA students

Education Minister Hazel Manning yesterday assured the 20,912 students writing the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam on Thursday, March 25, that they would secure places in a secondary institution, even if the ministry had to purchase these in private secondary schools. Speaking to reporters at the Normandie Hotel in St Ann’s, Manning said “The ministry has been working very hard, and meeting almost on a weekly basis to ensure that everything is in place,” concerning the exam. Admitting that the number of students writing this year’s exam was “a little more than last year” (20,600 students wrote last year), Manning said this year, “there are more places than there are children.” “Every child will be given a place in a secondary school,” she assured, adding that they are still purchasing places in secondary schools, and are not adverse to doing so if it was warranted.

Explaining the proposal to phase out and upgrade shift schools, she revealed that a Note was about to be sent to Cabinet to phase out three junior secondary schools in the new academic year. She declined to name the schools. For parents who are asking whether they will be treated to the $1,000 book grant for their children come September, the minister said, “Yes, maybe as the book rental system is in place, fewer cards will be given out.” This year, the book rental system will be extended to include Form Three students, so that only Forms Four, Five and Sixe will be presented with the book grant, which will eventually be phased out as the Ministry continuously upgrades the programme. The process employed last term, where primary school students were allowed to rent textbooks for the year, will again be used this year, stated Manning.

To the children writing exams, the Minister extended her good wishes and best of luck. There are 547 centres around the country, including Tobago, and the exam will be approximately four and a half hours long. Meanwhile, primary school principals in Port-of-Spain reported that while their students are generally ready for the exam, a few of them were exhibiting signs of nervous tension and apprehension, which they termed “normal at this time.” While they agreed that the preparations for SEA was not an overnight process, but one which incorporated the five years of their primary education, some of the principals revealed that they had consultants come to the school during the term to meet and chat with both parents and students. This they said, also helped to prepare the parent and student mentally, as well as providing a guideline for parents, so as to prevent them from placing undue stress on their child before the exam.

Many of the schools reported that they will be holding special prayer sessions at their respective churches and mosques during the three days before the exam, while the Tunapuna Hindu School will host its traditional Saraswati puja on Wednesday afternoon. Principal of Tunapuna Hindu, Primnath Gooptar, offered some helpful tips to parents on exam morning to help their child. He cautioned them to ensure that the child had something to eat, but to stay away from fried and oily foods. He stated that they should pamper the child and not threaten them, as this would place additional stress on the child. He suggested parents let the child go to bed early the night before the exam, so they will be well-rested and alert for the exam. All the principals Newsday contacted revealed that while they have not seen many nervous parents around, they are expecting them on Thursday morning, and issued a plea to parents to avoid transferring their feelings of nervousness to the child beforehand.