There are many reasons why the much-debated Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination (BSSEE), AKA, The 11-plus Exam (or the Screaming Test, for some) should be abolished.
Admittedly though, the exam has worked well – for those who have been prepared over the prior five to seven years of their early education.
These high-performers usually come from homes where parents have planned their children’s education process, sought out lesson teachers, ensured their children have lots of reading material long before they even enter nursery school, they guarantee their children enjoy a good social/educational/sports life balance, that Standard English is practised often, and that their nutritional and emotional needs are met.
This theory does not cover every high-performing 11-plus student, but among the top performers, you are likely to find many of these boxes ticked.
The classrooms at Queen’s College, Harrison College, and the St Michael School, to a greater extent, will be well populated with such students. The examination results and the general level of discipline among the population at these highly vaunted top-tier institutions reflect the quality of their intake.
But there are others, whose households embrace all the above ideals and for one reason or another, their children may not perform at their best on examination day.
The 11-plus exam and its lead-up present an extremely anxiety-filled period for children and parents, as the unfounded belief pervades that the performance at 11 years will somehow determine the rest of their lives.
A significant number of our primary school students who score under 50 per cent in the BSSEE and are scattered across the secondary school system, many going on to leave secondary school with little or no certification, are the ones believed to have been failed by the “system”.
At the same time, we know countless others who, despite the challenges and odds that are stacked against them, determine very early that they are going to succeed, no matter which school they attend, the level of poverty they confront, or type of household dysfunction they have to endure.
The University of the West Indies graduates are testaments to this assertion.
And most parents – rich or poor – will tell you that despite its inadequacies and failings, they have more faith in a system that is faulty but one that they believe gives their children a better chance of entry to the “top schools” by “fair” means.
These parents will remind us of the time when entry to the preferred schools was based on how much money a family had. They are worried that unless the system is based solely on exam results, the idea of fairness and equality might be threatened.
In August 2020, during a media briefing then Minister of Education Ms Santia Bradshaw emphasised the administration was set to abolish the BSSEE.
She insisted there would be consultation on the process, adding a solution will be found that allowed children who were exceptional to have a place in society, as well as those who were “exceptional in a different way”.
“We have to, as a Ministry, work with our various stakeholders to find that common ground that works for everyone and we really have started the ball rolling in terms of those discussions. So, we anticipate that over the course of the next few weeks and months, providing that COVID-19 does not have another wave in Barbados, that those discussions on the future of the 11-Plus will be able to materialise in a forum that is conducive to us holding wider public consultations,” she announced.
Almost two years on, and the key stakeholders, including parents and teachers, say they are still in the dark about what the Ministry intends to do. What seems to be certain is that this year will be the last for the controversial exam.
Should students in classes 3 and under, their parents and teachers, not know by now how children in this country will be assessed and transferred to secondary school? The answer is yes
It is most unfortunate and unhelpful to have the President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Mr Rudy Lovell complain that his members are as much in the dark as the rest of us.
He contends that the union was “at a loss” because there was “zero consultation”.
“The BUT is yet to be consulted or officially informed about any proposed changes to this exam, or even the formation of Junior Academies and Academies of Excellence as reported in the media,” he stated.
We are minded to give the new Minister of Education Ms Kay McConney and her Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw, a little let. But the honeymoon is quickly coming to an end.
For such a fundamental shift in policy position by the administration, the public should not be clueless at this stage.
