FOR the first time in Guyana, the two-day National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) papers will be translated into Spanish to accommodate children that communicate in that language.
This was according to Minister of Education Priya Manickchand who took to Facebook to express her love and support for the children writing, with a little over a week remaining for the 2023 examinations.

“We are translating the papers in Spanish for the Spanish speaking children; that is a first in Guyana,” she said.

Manickchand urged the pupils to do the best they can, and noted that even though COVID-19 put restrictions and a strain on the education system, the Ministry of Education tried its best to assist pupils in other ways.

“We are aware that in the COVID lockdown you stopped going to school in Grade Three, and that this could be a little harder for you than it would have ordinarily been. We took a lot of measures to make sure you are prepared for this exam,” she related, adding, “…giving you all the textbooks you need; every single child across the country, putting all the topics on video and showing them on the Learning Channel which is on YouTube, [and] is accessible to everyone across the country.”

Not only did they put the NGSA past papers online for free, but they launched the Quiz-Me Platform, a website that offers pupils the opportunity to practice NGSA-type questions.
She expressed her belief that the pupils are prepared for this examination and explained that each child will be given one hour and 10 minutes to complete each exam; 10 minutes to read through the papers and an hour to write.

Additionally, the number of centres has been increased to avoid pupils from having to travel long distances from their homes to write the examination.

“So we’ve done a lot of things to make you ready for these exams. We believe you will be ready and I want you to know this. Go in there, do your best, whichever school you get. We’re going to make sure that school offers you a high quality secondary education that prepares you for life in Guyana; in the thriving Guyana that we have right now,” she said.
Pupils will sit those exams on May 3 and 4, 2023.

Commenting on the structure of the assessment in 2022, Minister Manickchand said it will be based on the Grade Five curriculum, and then a consolidated curriculum. She cautioned, however, that concepts from Grades Three and Four are also tested.

“The children who will be taking the exam next year in 2023 came out of school in Grade Three and we are very conscious of that,” Minister Manickchand said.
Previously, Minister Manickchand said that the NGSA would not be removed from Guyana’s school system.

“We are not ending NGSA; I want us to be very clear about that. Barbados, Trinidad, and a couple of other countries explored ending their primary exit examination, but it’s not happening, and that’s because it’s hard to do, for a variety of reasons.

“The exit exams measure a whole set of other things in addition to placement. So, I didn’t speak about ending it,” Minister Manickchand clarified.

On July 6 and 7, 2022, almost 16,250 learners from across Guyana underwent this assessment. This is a significant rise from the 13,822 students who took the exam in 2021.