MAC School
~ Want dates moved back to May ~
PHILIPSBURG--A drastic change in the dates of the 2023-2024 Foundation Based Education (FBE) Exit Examinations, which are scheduled to be held six weeks earlier than usual, has left many schools “shocked,” “surprised” and scrambling to come up with a plan to sufficiently prepare their pupils in time for the exams.
Schools are also worried about post-exam truancy, while some pupils wonder how they will find time to study and some parents are at a loss for words as to why their children are being placed in such a disadvantageous position.
Without any prior consultations and with no explanation from authorities, schools learnt last week of the drastic change in the exam dates, which are being held in early April instead of the usual mid-to-late May period. The 2023-2024 FBE Exit Examinations have been scheduled to be held from Tuesday, April 9, up to and including Friday, April 12, 2024. The FBE exams are usually held mid to late May. The last exams were held May 16-19, 2023.
The Methodist Agogic Center (MAC) school board, Hillside Christian Schools, Catholic School Board and All Children’s Education Foundation (ACE) said none of them had been consulted beforehand.
“The volume of work that is taught in grade 6 is a lot. It’s already a challenge to finish the curriculum and review adequately with extra time, it would be more of a rush if this date remains,” said one frustrated sixth grade teacher. “We are not happy about this.”
Up to press time on Thursday, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS) Rodolphe Samuel had not yet responded to questions from The Daily Herald about the reasons for the sudden change in exam dates, why schools were not consulted, whether preparation time for pupils had been taken into consideration and whether consideration will be given to move the dates back to May.
The Methodist Agogic Center (MAC) school board, Hillside Christian Schools, Catholic School Board and All Children’s Education Foundation (ACE) said none of them had been consulted beforehand.
“The volume of work that is taught in grade 6 is a lot. It’s already a challenge to finish the curriculum and review adequately with extra time, it would be more of a rush if this date remains,” said one frustrated sixth grade teacher. “We are not happy about this.”
Up to press time on Thursday, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS) Rodolphe Samuel had not yet responded to questions from The Daily Herald about the reasons for the sudden change in exam dates, why schools were not consulted, whether preparation time for pupils had been taken into consideration and whether consideration will be given to move the dates back to May.
“We at the MAC are not happy about the earlier testing date, as we were not made aware of the intention to move the exams up to April. This new date gives us less time to adequately prepare the students for the exam as well as to keep them engaged after the exams are completed,” Foundation Methodist Agogic Centre Executive Director Rose Hughes-Coram, told The Daily Herald when asked for the board’s reaction.
“I have already reached out to the Division of Exams, and it was expressed that the dates are reviewed and approved within the Ministry by the Division of Exams and Inspection. They go on to mention all the exams that they are responsible for that need to be completed before June. This situation will need to be addressed by all school boards concerned, if they are all on the same page,” said Hughes-Coram.
Hillside Christian Schools Chief Executive Director Asha Stevens-Mohabier, Superintendent Blondel Sprott-Mussington, the school managers of Hillside’s two campuses along with Executive Assistant to the CEO Nina Edstrom-Sitra minced no words in expressing their disappointment with the extreme change. The team said the loss of time to prepare pupils is a major issue and they wondered who is being accommodated with the drastic change.
Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School.
“Our school was very surprised to find out about this change, especially since we were not consulted about this potential change whatsoever. Neither the Division of Examinations nor the Department of Education reached out to our school board or management to solicit our professional opinion. The information reached us through an ‘FBE Booklet Brochure’ with absolutely no motivation or explanation for why the exam was moved up to April. Exactly who are we accommodating by changing the date so drastically and who is benefiting from the change?” the Hillside team asked.
“We fear that truancy will become a serious issue, because historically, many of the Group 8 students will fail to attend school post-exams. After the exam week, some students may miss as much as 38 school days up until the week of graduation.
“Many families see the FBE Exit Exam as the finish line of elementary school; however, our schools will do everything we can to make families understand that education is still mandatory after the exam and that a student’s attendance and performance for the entire duration of the school year is what determines placement in a secondary school, as per the family’s wishes.”
According to the Hillside Schools team, “The teachers will carry the additional burden of covering all areas of the curriculum in a shorter time than normal. As for the students, many might become anxious about the shorter preparation time, but we will present it to them in a manner that doesn’t elevate their stress levels.”
Hillside believes that the exam dates should be moved back to May. “The change of the FBE Exit Exam date constitutes a missed opportunity for us to carry out our Carnival break classes that we do every year in preparation for the FBE Exit Exams. We will now have to put in extra resources in the afternoons to do a repetition of the most important aspects of the Group 8 curriculum instead.”
ACE official Claire Elshot (standing right) during an activity at ACEschool
Long time educator and director of All Children’s Education Foundation (ACE) school Claire Elshot was stunned when she received the news. “We were shocked when we received this email,” said Elshot. “Of course, this has become a real challenge, because the students are not easily motivated after these exams to continue doing any work at school.
“ACE Foundation School was not consulted and feels that this is not a good decision due to the fact that six weeks earlier is taking away from preparation time and practice time of the students. I surely believe it should be reversed back and pushed even to the end of May just before any break (thinking here on Ascension Day break),” said Elshot, a former long-time president of the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU).
Catholic School Board Director Jessy Aventurin said the board had not been consulted. She indicated that school managers would adjust accordingly.
Some parents are also not happy with the change and are backing schools in the hope that the exam dates are pushed forward to May as was always the case.
In the meantime, in addition to the other questions, Minister Samuel was also asked by this newspaper whether authorities will take into consideration the interest of the hundreds of pupils who have to sit this exam next year and move the exams back to mid- to late May as has always been the case.
