OVER 14,000 of the nation’s children on Wednesday and Thursday sat the National Grade Six Assessment Examination (NGSA) at their respective schools and centres. They sat- some nervously, some confidently- awaiting the instruction from the invigilator to turn over the paper and begin the examination. It was the beginning of a new chapter in their lives, their performance is deemed very important to their future successes. What school they will be awarded is, for many cases than few, a determining factor on what their lives will be like for the next five to seven years.

Sitting nervously at home are their parents, for every parent wants the best for their children; every parent wants their child to be awarded a good school and for most cases, the best school. Sharing their nervousness is the teachers, those who would have spent the last school year or two preparing these children for this examination.
This preparation is one only fit for the strong. A Grade Six teacher has to be nothing short of determined, dedicated and strong-willed.

Carol Braithwaite, has been a household name in Linden for decades and has maybe taught most of the students in Amelia’s Ward, Linden, who would have attended the Amelia’s Ward Primary School. Now retired, the NGSA blood was never dulled and so she continued to teach on a private basis after retirement. For most of her 37 years of teaching, she taught as a ‘Common Entrance’ teacher- as it is widely known- and through many battles and challenges, brought many noticeable successes to the Amelia’s Ward Primary School.
Giving encouragement to the present teachers while reminiscing about the years spent in front of the blackboard in school, Teacher Carol explained how being an NGSA teacher is no easy task, and sometimes can be very unthankful. “To be an NGSA teacher, you have to first of all, have a genuine love not only for teaching but for teaching that level of children. It is something that has to be narrowed down. It is no easy task for those who have the children’s success at heart as if it is your very own children. It is long hours at work, a lot of extra lessons, a lot of research, a lot of practising of old examination papers, a lot of faith, a lot of prayers, a lot of tears,” she explained. “It is as if those children’s future is in your hands and you have two terms to make the best of it.”

Teacher Carol said that she was able to get good results after years of trial and error and one of the decisions she made, was to take the children from Grades Five since in Grade Six you are only given two terms to prepare. Grade Five is deemed a pre- NGSA class and so it is as if the work begins there. She stated that she met her first real mentor, Sir Eric Baird (now deceased) in 1993 when she was placed to co-teach with him. It was there she learned the real ropes of carrying the class. “Eric Baird taught me a lot; how to work the syllabus, what to prioritise, how to meet the abilities of all the children so that the high fliers won’t be held back while the average workers would be given the needed individual attention as well,” she articulated.

COMING DOWN TO CRUNCH TIME
About one term prior to the examination, the mission is to complete the syllabus while revisiting topics that are sure to come in the examination; topics that the children experience difficulty in handling while pushing in a lot of practise sessions. It is a race, she said, only the strong will survive to the end. “At that time, the children would come in for 07:30 hrs even though school starts at 08:00 hrs. After lessons the day before, I would set up work for them to do. I normally work Sunday to Sunday and most nights classes would finish around 20:00hrs. In addition to that, you have to give individual tutoring to the weak ones because while I may have that top group in my head, for me, every child counts and every child can do it. You also have to get parental support. The parents have an integral role to play in their child’s success and the parents also have to understand that teachers do not make brains. The teacher, the parent and the child have to work in unison for success because the teacher can put in all the work and if a child does not put forth that interest, magic cannot happen,” she said.

ONE LESS MARK
With the zoning system implemented by the Ministry of Education, Teacher Carol explained that one less mark can make an entire difference in school placements and so she tries to explain to the children that every question should be treated as equally important. They are also taught the ropes of application and their reasoning skills are strengthened which is needed to tackle Paper II questions. Days prior to the examination, she always tried to boost the children’s confidence that they can make it; they can achieve that school they want to attend and all that is needed is for them to apply what they would have been taught. “I use to get really nervous when it was the examination day, maybe more nervous that the children and their parents,” Carol joked. “I remembered crying while they are writing the examination and waiting patiently for them to break to ask how they got through. Prayers also kept me through, I prayed a lot for my students, for them to make their parents proud, their school proud and their community proud.”

BROWN ENVELOPE
“My weakest moments would be seeing the Headteacher walking up the school stairs with the results in a brown envelope. You sometimes don’t know whether to scream, stay quiet, sit, stand or just to walk up and down, but when you hear joyful screams, it is a sigh of relief.”

She explained that an NGSA teacher always hopes that her children make it in the top 10 for the region and top one per cent for the country and for her years of dedication, she would have achieved this repeatedly. Most satisfying, though, is the surprises of the average children who would have worked extra hard to attain Mackenzie High School.
“At the end of it all, it’s the smile of the children and the parents that make it all worth it,” Teacher Carol said.