There have been mixed emotions and reactions to the CAC of the SEA examinations. The Minister of Education has categorically stated that he wanted it scrapped. Not surprisingly, he was supported by the head of TTUTA.
Some principals and teachers have complained that it involved too much testing and so consumed too much valuable teaching time. Some parents even lamented that it destroyed the child's self esteem because of the manner in which the assessments were conducted.
I guess those were all serious and valid comments and could form the basis for meaningful dialogue.JRR Tolkien once said that: "He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." I direct that statement to the minister.
I was fortunate to be a member of the marking panel and two points were agreed upon:
(1) work submitted ranged from excellent to shoddy; and
(2) schools that did well in the CAC were schools that did very good at SEA.
The CAC was conceived and hastily delivered with little incubation. In essence it was a good educational tool. It afforded the weak student to gain some marks, get a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction and helped to build that all-powerful self esteem. It also got the parents involved so there was some quality bonding time. The CAC also prepared the child as well as the parent for the gruelling SBAs in secondary schools.
The response is not to disband the CAC but rather it should be re-engineered. Maybe the number of tested subjects should be reduced along with the number of assessments for each subject.Better training for teachers and the timely delivery of resources to the school supported by quality monitoring by qualified personnel.
So it is over to you, minister, and your planners.
Sahadeo Ragoonanan