A decision will be taken by the Ministry of Education on Tuesday on whether to publish the results of the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examinations in the daily newspapers.
The issue was put yesterday to Education Minister Anthony Garcia at a press conference who stated that no final decision had been taken on the matter.
For years, parents have been calling on the ministry to stop the practice of publishing the results, as it causes undue stress for students.
This year, however, the ministry heeded to call and began consultation with various stakeholders last month.
Throughout the debate, there have been two major concepts popping up. On one hand, Garcia argued the results have been customarily been published to ensure transparency.
However, the need for transparency now has to be weighed against the rights of the child and parents’ view of privacy and confidentiality.
Asked if the Ministry of Education has taken a decision to publish the results of the examination, Garcia said: “Yesterday, I received an opinion from the ministry’s legal adviser and I will be discussing that legal opinion with our statutory executive team in a meeting on Tuesday.”
Garcia said the final decision to publish or not the results rests on the shoulders of the ministry.
On April 4, 18,849 students wrote the examination. The results are expected to be released in early July.
“But we will look at the advice we get from our stakeholders and in particular the legal aspect of it. I have received in the mail some letters from some of our stakeholders. And I can say that the letters indicate that we should take a very close look at it ...and the suggestions go from publishing to not publishing.”
He also gave the assurance that all schools will be reopened on Tuesday.
“On Tuesday we visited a number of schools that had work being undertaken, and as a result, we are of the firm belief that all the schools would be in readiness for the reopening of schools.”