The Education Ministry is considering remedial initiatives for the 2,170 students who scored below 30 per cent in the 2017 SEA examination, to prepare them for secondary school, Education Minister Anthony Garcia said yesterday.
Initiatives include placing remedial teachers with “at risk” schools,” he said.
Garcia detailed plans in the Senate yesterday replying to queries on the 2,170 students who scored below 30 per cent in the SEA examination. He said students over 13 move on to schools while those under 13 who scored less than 30 per cent will be allowed to return to school and repeat the examination.
Garcia said there are no plans to evaluate students prior to entry to secondary school, but within their first month of entry to secondary school, this will be done.
On remedial work for the 2,170 who scored below 30 per cent, he said there are no plans to conduct vacation programmes. But he said several initiatives by the Students’ Support Services Division in numeracy and literacy are being considered to prepare the students for secondary school.
“These include diagnostic testing to determine the students’ functional levels of numeracy and literacy and evaluation to identify students with specific special needs and to design individualised programmes to meet these needs.”
Other initiatives include guidance to alternative career pathways and holding workshops for parents.
Garcia added, “We’ll also provide the basic programme of work in the foundation areas of numeracy and literacy and will adapt and/or adjust existing curricula programmes to meet students’ needs.”
School supervision/management divisions will also oversee time table arrangements at the schools where these students are placed to afford them adequate time for their tasks.
The divisions will also meet the administrative team of the schools to discuss leadership/management arrangements to be implemented and regular monitoring of the various initiatives will be done.
In the new academic year (2017/2018) the Ministry will engage primary level principals to ascertain what additional support is needed to treat with students who don’t meet the standard for placement to secondary level, he said.
Garcia also said other plans include having social workers to go to homes of students to examine their environment. Attention will also be paid to the training needs of teachers with workshops to manage such issues.
