11-Plus exam pushed back a month

Students sitting the Common Entrance Examination in 2021 will have an extra month to prepare, Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw announced on Wednesday.

The additional time has been granted to help teachers get up to date with the syllabus and allow parents and students to overcome their anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

Bradshaw said instead of being held in May as customary, next year’s 11-Plus exam would now take place on June 22.

The minister also disclosed that the ministry had consulted Class 4 teachers to find out how far along they were in the syllabus and how they felt about the fact that the majority of students were being taught virtually.

She explained this was one of the reasons why students sitting the exam would be among the first to fully return to school for face-to-face classes when the new term starts on Tuesday.

Bradshaw said: “We are also prioritizing our 11-Plus students because we recognize that in normal times students are very anxious about the examination. I think parents are anxious, teachers are anxious and the general public becomes very anxious about this examination.

“And in the pandemic, one of the things that was very clear from a number of the students who spoke to us was that they too were feeling additional anxiety as a result of the uncertainties of when the exam is going to take place and whether or not they are going to be able to complete the syllabus in time.

“So we are going to prioritize 11-Plus students and they will make a gradual return to school over the course of the next couple of weeks for those of them that have not been in school fully for five days. All principals have been made aware that they will now be making the necessary accommodations to allow them to gradually return to the school environment.

“We have also recognized that the date for the 11-Plus exam which is traditionally scheduled in May is perhaps not going to be practical for persons to be able to set that exam on that date given the amount of time that has been lost and so a decision has been taken by the ministry to allow the moving of the date until June 22, 2021.”

Bradshaw acknowledged that the switch to virtual teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic had not been a seamless transition.

She noted that in some instances teachers were behind in the syllabus and had indicated it could possibly put some children at a disadvantage.

She said: “It has arisen out of several representations by teachers indicating a better level of comfort if they had the additional time to complete the syllabus and also a preference that we didn’t move it until July which is obviously in the high peak of their vacation as would have happened last year.

“I hope that parents, teachers and certainly our students will breathe a sigh of relief over the course of the next few days and certainly the coming weeks and months as it relates to their preparation for that particular examination.”
(RB)