CSI president renews call to scrap Common Entrance

As thousands of students prepare to sit the Common Entrance Examination Tuesday morning, the head of a child advocacy organisation has issued a plea for the abolition of the controversial test – and urged parents to ease the pressure on their children in the final hours.

Dr Anthony Cummins, president of the Centre for Solutions and Influence (CSI), speaking with Barbados TODAY on the eve of the national assessment, declared himself a staunch opponent of the current system and called for the total removal of the examination.

Despite repeated pledges that the exam would be abolished, including an announcement that the 2025 exam would be the last, the education ministry prepared to organise the 2026 of the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examination (BSSEE). 

“I am one that is ready and ready to run all around Barbados celebrating the abolition of this Common Entrance Examination,” Dr Cummins said, arguing that the high-stakes test creates “tremendous division” amongst the nation’s youth and families.

Dr Cummins proposed that Barbados should transition towards a “matriculation system” that allows children to be promoted to secondary schools based on their consistent performance throughout their primary years rather than the results of a single, high-pressure day.

He leads an organisation dedicated to supporting at-risk children and strengthening father-child relationships, and emphasised that the current system often places an unbearable burden on the emotional health of students.

Dr Cummins pointed to the academic success of his own son, now a statistician on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, as evidence that such exams are unnecessary for high achievement. “He didn’t have to do a test. He went from Grade 1 through high school based on the work done throughout the terms,” Dr Cummins noted, adding that “it just shows you the importance of why you can get away from this exam.”

With the exam scheduled to begin Tuesday morning, the CSI president pivoted to an urgent plea for parents and educators to “ease the pressure” in these final hours.

He cautioned against the use of abusive language and the damaging habit of comparing students to siblings who may have attended prestigious institutions like Harrison College or Queen’s College.

“Stop the comparison of other students,” he urged, noting that telling a child they “better try and pass for a big school” only serves to make them nervous, which “results in a whole lot of travesty.”

He observed that many children suffer because “parents were cursing the children until the very night” over missed sums or practice scores, a behaviour he described as deeply counterproductive to a child’s performance.

To ensure the best possible environment for the students, Dr Cummins outlined a series of practical recommendations for the night before and the morning of the test.

He advised parents to “avoid as much as well, not even to try, but to avoid, putting too much pressure and stress on the children in ways that would cause them to react negatively”. This includes ensuring children are off their tablets and in bed early to get an “adequate amount of rest” so they can “rise early and be in the right state of mind”.

He also warned against “giving the children too much to eat on the morning of the examination” and insisted on arriving at the exam centres early so the child can “acclimatise” rather than rushing into the room looking for pens and paper.

As students head into the examination rooms, Dr Cummins reminded the public that a child’s worth must not be measured by a test score. He encouraged parents to maintain a “healthy support system” involving the entire extended family—grandparents, uncles, and teachers alike.

He specifically highlighted the moment the exam ends, urging parents to remain compassionate regardless of the child’s feedback. “Don’t go beating your children because they may say to you that they didn’t finish the paper,” he urged. “That is the time that you should love up on them. That is the time that you should embrace them and let them know this is not the end of the world.”

For Dr Cummins, whilst the exam remains a reality for now, the ultimate goal must be the preservation of the child’s spirit, as “pressure creates stress and stress can cause the child to be sick”.

(RR)