Principal upset over Ministry’s denial of assistance to 11-plus students

Despite reports from the Ministry of Education that all went smoothly in the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (BSSEE), the principal of a private school on Tuesday raised concerns that two of his students were denied reading assistance.

Principal of LITE [Learn Imagine Try and Enjoy] Primary School, Billboard Murrell lamented that even though the parents of the two students paid hundreds to provide the Ministry of Education with reports and assessments done by clinical psychologists to prove their children were struggling readers, the ministry denied their requests for the students to be assisted.

He explained that the two were accustomed to having people read for them during in-school examinations and said he feared they would score poorly in the 11-plus exam because they were denied help in the national test.

“They may literally spend 15 minutes trying to read a passage that you could read in 15 seconds. You just read for them, and they write down their own answers, and they may get 50 or 55 [marks]. Without a reader, they are going to get 12, they are going to get five because they just can’t get certain things read,” lamented the principal who had 14 students sitting the examination this year.

“These things cannot be fair, these things cannot be right, especially when we are talking about reimagining education. I do not know who on earth sits down and advises these people at the Ministry,” an upset Murrell added, acknowledging that three other students from his school were granted reading assistance.

He said it was also upsetting that only a day before the exam, the parent of another student received confirmation that the ministry would provide their child with a reader when the appropriate documents were submitted, even though the request was made in February.

On the verge of tears, Special Education Needs Coordinator at LITE Primary School and specialist assessor Janelle Murrell said she was sad that the two students walked into the examination without readers.

“We make the exam arrangements at our school where we help them read. We are not giving them answers because that would be unfair, so that is not what we are saying. These children may just be a number for people that are out there but they are not a number for me. I have had them for years, I have boosted their confidence, and now I am hurt that they are going to walk out of that exam with grades that they weren’t accustomed to because the support was not there,” she said.

“If the criteria are made public, it gives us principals and it gives parents an opportunity to decide in the first place if it even makes sense to take this test at all. So once that is done, then we would know where we stand.”

Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Bradshaw-Archer explained to the media that standardised criteria are used to determine whether children receive reader assistance.

She said the criteria the ministry has used for almost two decades assesses the average IQ score of a child.

“But note that through it all, the Ministry of Education does what is necessary to make sure that our children are accommodated. With the resources that we have, we try to make sure that we are very effective and patient throughout it all,” the education chief said.

Minister of Education Kay McConney, who visited several examination centres throughout the day, said her ministry had provided some students with reading and other assistance, and noted that at least one visually impaired student was registered to sit the examination this year.

“I think we have to continue to give the level of support to those students who have special needs. And there are certain assessments that are actually done to determine how support is given to the various students. I think that there are those who will be satisfied with the outcomes they have had and some will not be satisfied, but the important thing is that we look for what is in the best interest of the child,” she said.
(AH)