National tests will take place as planned

NATIONAL TESTS for primary school students at the Standard One and Three levels will be held tomorrow. According to the Ministry of Education, 20,000 students in Standard One and an additional 20,000 students in Standard Three in all government, government-assisted and private primary schools will be assessed in the subject areas of Mathematics and Language Arts.

In a release, the Ministry advised that the results of the national tests will be used to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in these specified subjects. It also notes that the teachers will use the results to plan instructions to further assist students in the new academic year. The results will guide the Ministry in the development of policies and programmes to improve student performance and assist in remediation exercises. The Ministry assured parents that results of the tests will not be used in conjunction with the Secondary Entrance Assessment results to place students in secondary schools.