Ministry assures that exams are on today

AN ESTIMATED 40,000 primary school students in Standards One and Three are expected to take the national tests in Mathematics and Language Arts today. The Ministry of Education is assuring that the tests will come off, despite teachers’ plan to stay away from schools on their third day of “rest and reflection.” The tests are to be carried out in all Government, Government-assisted and private primary schools. A release from the Ministry assured parents that it was continuing to “work toward providing quality education for the nation’s children,” saying the results from the tests will be used to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses. Primary school teachers will participate in the marking exercise under the supervision of the Ministry.

Meanwhile, the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) is urging teachers to “rest and reflect” today over their dissatisfaction with the offer by the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO). The union said that over the weekend the CPO had threatened to halt negotiations unless the union gave it a written guarantee that schools would be operating normally as of yesterday. The union was expected to hold an emergency General Council meeting last evening at the Chaguanas Junior Secondary school.