Some 19,000 candidates to sit NGSA today
– Minister Baksh urges candidates to stay focused, put best effort forward
EDUCATION Minister Mr. Shaik Baksh has called on all candidates sitting the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) today to stay focused and put their best effort forward to realize the high expectations of their parents and teachers.

Baksh praised the hard work of teachers in preparing the pupils for the occasion and extended best wishes of success to the candidates. He is also urging both parents and the candidates to pay close attention to the dates and time of the assessments.

Some 19,000 candidates from across the country will be sitting the examinations and all arrangements have been put in place to facilitate its smooth conduct and administration.

They will be assessed in four subjects, namely Mathematics, English, Science and Social Studies. Each subject has two papers – Paper 1 and Paper 11. All Paper 1 questions are multiple choice and all in Paper 11 are structured types.

Today, English Language Papers 1 & 11 will be taken in the morning session and will be followed by Science Papers 1 & 11 in the afternoon.

Tomorrow, Mathematics Papers 1 & 11 will be taken in the morning while Social Studies Papers 1 & 11 will be offered in the afternoon.

After the conduct of the examinations, all scripts will be returned to the Examination Division and processing will commence within one week. The results are expected to be available to students by June month end.

The Ministry of Education, as part of its preparation for the examination, has distributed timetables for all the candidates earlier in the year and supervisors and invigilators were also trained to oversee the process at all the examinations centres.

Last year, pupils performed creditably at the National Grade Six Assessment. The Education Ministry, in a statement, noted that pupils who gained 50 per cent and more in Mathematics improved from 21 per cent in 2009 to 34 per cent in 2010.  Science from 23 per cent in 2009 to 33 per cent in 2010 and Social Studies from 32 per cent to 34 per cent for the corresponding period. A three percent decline from 27 per cent was recorded in English for the same period.
The Ministry of Education has recognized the deficiencies at the primary level and this year has introduced the National Grade Four Certificate Programme.  This initiative is expected to comprehensively address the shortcomings with literacy and numeracy in primary schools.
The ministry said this change places more pressure on teachers to perform as pupils will have to pass this examination to qualify to sit the NGSA. It also forces parents to be more involved in their children’s education.
The National Grade Four Literacy Certificate also allows the Ministry of Education to gauge the literacy standards of pupils. Minister Baksh has also pointed out that, with this intervention now on stream, no longer will poor performing headteachers remain unnoticed as the unsatisfactory performance of their schools will be published in the newspapers.
Other initiatives to improve pupils’ performance at the primary level include the New Literacy Methodology which includes the Literacy Hour and Accelerated Literacy Instruction Periods, the Interactive Radio Instruction programme and the Fast-track Literacy programme.
Baksh is hoping that, with the intensification of efforts channelled into these programmes, the performance of the NGSA candidates this year will be better than their colleagues last year.

Meanwhile, Chief Education Officer Mr. Olato Sam, in an invited comment, has stressed that arrangements have been streamlined in preparation for the NGSA exams to be held today and tomorrow.
“All efforts have been made to ensure a smooth process for the assessment,” Sam told the Chronicle.
According to him, the 19,000 students sitting this year’s NGSA exams are from over 480 schools across Guyana’s 10 administrative regions.