| —assures that changes to NGSA will not hamper its integrity“I have a very open office,” said Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine. He disclosed that he has been seeking support to enhance the performance of his Ministry. The Education Minister disclosed that he has even invited to his office, former Ministers of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand and Dr. Henry Jeffrey.Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert RoopnaraineSpeaking specifically of the former Ministers of Education, Dr. Roopnaraine amplified that “together they have enormous years of experience and that’s experience that I would like to be able to draw on.”“They are not only colleagues but these are friends and I expect that if they have concerns (regarding the education system) they will come to the Ministry and sit with me and let’s see how we can work them out,” the Minister disclosed.His remarks were not random. They were prompted by what he regarded as “controversies” recently published in the newspapers.Minister Roopnaraine was alluding to comments made by Manickchand during a recent People’s Progressive Party press conference about recent changes that will be reflected in the upcoming National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA). Manickchand had expressed particular concern regarding the requirement for candidates’ names to be written on assessment papers rather than just the traditional candidate number.This,Erik Gustafsson Jersey, according to Manickchand, could essentially threaten the integrity of the examination.But Dr. Roopnaraine said, “I see some controversies being raised in the newspapers…I am very sorry that my predecessors and my colleagues have issues (but) if they have issues they can bring them to me.”He,Antoine Roussel Jersey, nevertheless, sought to reassure that the markers of the examination will not be in possession of the names of the candidates. “That is the major area of concern and a major area of abuse… The candidates’ names will not be available to the markers. That is (Manickchand’s) main concerns…“It doesn’t matter where the candidates put their names; we have to ensure that names and numbers match. We don’t just want numbers and don’t have names to go with the numbers and that is the only reason we want names,Jonas Brodin Jersey,” Minister Roopnaraine explained.He added that the changes to the NGSA come at a time when the Ministry is looking to take the examination aspect out of the Grade Two and the Grade Four Assessments.The intent, according to Minister Roopnaraine, is to instead use the two examinations as diagnostic assessments that can essentially “point us in the direction that we believe that some corrective action be taken or so, but not have it count, as it previously was, towards Grade Six (NGSA).”Minister Roopnaraine, last year,Brandon Saad Team North America Jersey, disclosed plans to consult with the Caribbean Examination Council to help improve the National Grade Two Assessment (NGTA), the National Grade Four Assessment (NGFA) and by extension the NGSA.The state of affairs that obtained for a number of years is that the ascension to secondary schools requires that five per cent of each candidate’s NGTA score in Mathematics and English and 10 per cent of the NGFA score in the same subjects be added to 85 per cent of each candidate’s NGSA score in the same subject areas. The combined scores in Mathematics and English are added to the scores gained in Science and Social Studies thereby determining the secondary school a candidate is allowed to attend.It is not clear whether the Ministry has already consulted with the Regional Examination body but Minister Roopnaraine confidently informed that plans to revise the process were imminent.The Ministry in a statement to clarify the new layout of the NGSA assessment papers,Tyler Seguin Jersey, pointed out that while each of the four subjects written in the NGSA will continue to have two papers (Paper 1 and Paper 2) as it relates to candidate information, the two papers require different sets of information.For paper one, the answer sheets will have the candidate information –candidate name and identification number – already printed or ‘pre-slugged’.The candidates will however be required to write/sign their names as a mechanism to ensure that the candidate for whom the paper was prepared is actually the one who answers the questions. But according to the Ministry, this will have no implications for marking because these answer sheets are all marked electronically.However, as it relates to paper two, the cover page of the answer sheet is bifurcated and perforated. The Test Code, Subject, and Candidate Number are required on both sides. The Test Code and Subject will already be printed while candidates will be required to write in their Candidate Number.This information is provided for them on the timetables given to every candidate.In addition, on the right half of the paper only,Clark Griswold Jersey, candidates are also required to write in the name of their school,Tony Twist Jersey, their full name,Darcy Kuemper Jersey, date of birth and gender. The right side of the sheets are all detached prior to the commencement of the marking of paper two and retained for administrative purposes only.The information that would be evident during the marking process would be the Test Code,ED Belfour Jersey, Subject, and Candidate Number only. ”These are administrative mechanisms and will have no bearing on the marking process whatsoever,” the Ministry has insisted. |
