An online version of the Secondary School Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination is in the works for primary school pupils. This is one of Minister of Public Administration Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan's plans to reduce the anxiety that grips pupils and parents preparing for the annual SEA exam.
Yesterday Seepersad-Bachan, addressing Vistabella Presbyterian Primary School's 2011-2012 graduation at the Susamachar Presbyterian Church, Carib Street, San Fernando said, "The demands placed on children are so much greater now with the advent of the Secondary Entrance Assessment."
She said she understands the demands and the stress parents face since her son also sat the SEA this year. Seepersad-Bachan said she hopes that as the education system and processes develop, some of that stress would be relieved partly by technology but, mostly by developing other options.
"It is my vision that one day, sometime in the future, the Secondary Entrance Assessment can be written online in the comfort of our homes with the necessary controls in place, to ensure that the process is transparent and efficient." Seepersad-Bachan, speaking with the T&T Guardian following her address, said the online SEA is a vision for the future.
She said Trinidad and Tobago has to consider online examinations for CSEC also. The minister congratulated the students on completing their primary school education and encouraged them to embrace new challenges as adventures. She also told them that they should not be unduly disappointed in not getting the school of their choice. "Remember, there is a bigger reason for things which happen in our lives.
"We cannot always know what God has planned for us. Our duty is to do the best always in whatever circumstances we may find ourselves," she said. Seepersad-Bachan urged the students to consider occupations other than engineering, law and medicine and to think very, very carefully and seek lots of advice should they think about becoming politicians.
While she said politics is "very useful" she warned anyone desirous of making positive changes in their country to seek lots of advice first. Valedictorian Melani Baboolal told her classmates that they are on the threshold of a new adventure. She said as students they have been given a script and they must take the opportunities to write our own stories. Baboolal also serenaded the teachers on behalf of the graduating class, with her own composition entitled, "Without you."