EDUCATION Minister, Priya Manickchand, has revealed that her ministry is exploring the possibility of eliminating the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and the Grades Two and Four assessments. Minister Manickchand, in making this revelation last Friday, stated that over the years it has become clear that young children have been put under immense pressure to be placed at a particular school. She added that the ministry is exploring whether NGSA should be stopped and instead, direct focus be placed on ensuring an equal delivery of education at all secondary schools.
“NGSA is something we have to sit, we have to write, not because we want to test children and find out who is bright and who is not… It’s a placement exam. We have to find out where to put children,” she said.

The minister added: “Testing children on one single day and having their future decided on that day when they are 10-years-old is hard and it might not be the most child-friendly thing that we can do.” The minister further expressed her displeasure with the placement examination stating, “It has turned into something I don’t like anymore… never really liked it, and we are currently examining how we can make sure it doesn’t matter which high school you get.” According to the minister, the ministry is working to ensure that there is an equitable delivery of education across the country, no matter what secondary school a pupil is placed at. She emphasised the need for equality of services, trained teachers and facilities.

Referencing the country’s premiere secondary school, Queen’s College, Minister Manickchand said, “Queen’s College is 180 years old and we can’t make another high school 180 years old, so there is a tradition but then there is service, quality, resources, facility and if we equalize what we give as resources then it wouldn’t matter anymore what high school you got, and that’s what we are working on.” However, when asked by reporters what the NGSA would be replaced with, she declined to speak any further before noting that the final decision could only be made after much wider conversations and consultations are held.
In the meantime, she said that the ministry is working towards having the same resources and facilities that are available at the country’s premiere secondary schools made accessible at all secondary schools.

“The schools have to provide an equal type of education and then see if the best way to do this is to test on a paper or if we want to perhaps look at a buildup of testing,” she added. Regarding the Grades Two and Four assessments, the minister noted that they were designed to enhance children’s literacy skills. However, over the years the examinations have become questionable. “It might be very precipitous but we are considering whether some of those exams need to even be continued. The Grades Two and Four exams started out because we wanted to ensure children were literate.
“Have we seen an increase in the level of literacy because of those two exams, or did they just become two exams?” the minister questioned.