A problematic ratio question in yesterday's SEA proved difficult for some pupils. Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said yesterday that Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan informed him of the pupils' difficulty. But the concept of ratios is "fundamental to mathematics," Gopeesingh said. The minister said Seecharan told him the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) has been aligned with the curriculum, and "it is nothing new."
He added that students being unable to answer the question was a "weakness on the part of the teacher," and that was why the ministry continued to monitor the implementation of the curriculum. Gopeesingh said all went according to plan in yesterday's exam. A school in Las Cuevas, he said, reported a power outage but the problem was quickly rectified when the principal called the Electricity Commission (T&TEC) hotline implemented by the ministry.
He said all schools started on time and hoped all would go well in the marking of the papers by the CXC. The consensus among many of the 18,039 students who wrote yesterday's exam was that the maths component was "challenging." "The maths was kind of hard but the language arts was easy," said 12-year-old Leanna Richard, who attends St Ursula's Girls' Anglican School.
Her mother Leslie- Ann Richard expressed relief at the exam's end and thanked the principal and Standard Five teacher at the all-girl Anglican school for the work done with her daughter. The sentiment at Richmond Street Boys' differed little. Leighton la Rosa described the exam as "slightly easy." La Rosa, who hopes to attend Queen's Royal College, also said the maths was a bit challenging but the language arts was easy.
"All I did was remember what my parents and teachers taught me," he said excitedly, as a group of his friends gathered around him. At Sacred Heart Girls' RC, the cars of anxious parents lined the street. When they finished the exam, the girls ran down the staircase screaming.
One jubilant student jumped on her waiting mother and screamed, "It done! It done!" Another girl was seen crying and hugging her mother, who quickly took her away. Sacred Heart Girls' student Arissa Romany also said the maths exam was challenging but she too described the language arts as "easy." T&T Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) general secretary Peter Wilson said although the association heard reports of the problem, the executive did not have enough information to comment.
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The National Primary Schools Principals' Association (NAPSPA) is calling on the Ministry of Education to disregard the problematic question. In a statement, the association's president Lynsley A Doodhai said while the SEA ran smoothly, the NAPSPA had received many complaints from principals about the content of the maths component of the SEA.
"Principals have complained to NAPSPA that question no 35 of the mathematics paper was based on the topic 'Proportion and Ratio,' a topic that is no longer on the primary school mathematics syllabus, having been removed many years ago," Doodhai said. He said the ministry must engage in dialogue with the CXC to ensure that such an unfortunate incident is not repeated in the future.
"NAPSPA is unable to comprehend how the Caribbean Examinations Council, which has responsibility for setting the SEA examination, could have committed this grave oversight, one which NAPSPA considers totally unacceptable," Doodhai added. He also said NAPSPA hoped that the Curriculum Division of the Education Ministry "would have guided the CXC as to the topics that were to be tested."
Speaking at yesterday's post-Cabinet press conference, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she sympathised with students, and would seek a report on the matter from the Education Minister.