Port of Spain; The Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers' Association (TTUTA) is expressing its concern over the rushed, reckless way in which the Ministry of Education (MOE) implimented the Continous Assessment Component (CAC). To date all students in standard 5 would have already completed the Final Assessment in Creative Writng. TTUTA have been continuously pointing out the blunders associated with this procedure to the Ministry, but this was to no avail.
They warned that the training for teachers in preperation to deliver and examine students were inadequate. Several teachers who attended the sessions complained they were not satisfied with the preparation. The Teachers felt the instructions and procedures were inconsistent and some were very confusing, because the various districts were given different timelines for the completion of specific projects. There were also complaints that the timeline was continously changing which in several cases shortened the deadlines reducing its effectiveness, which placed further stress on the teachers.
The resources and materials that had to be supplied were in some cases inadequate; in several schools teachers had to use their own resources to meet the needs of the curriculum. The registration data was to be supplied to the MOE by email and on-line, which left schools without computer facilities in a quandry. In some cases teachers had to use their personal resources, or access the facilities at the District Offices of the MOE. This caused registration documents to contain inaccurate information, which later required correction and led to even further confusion.
It was also reported that storage in some schools as being inadequate for student projects, portfolios, personal information and marks. This could significantly affect the validity and confidentiality of the information which is critical given that the SEA is considered a one shot high-stakes examination.
TTUTA once again is calling for proper meaningful consultation among all parties on the changes in the education policy which affects our young ones. They believe the implementation of the CAC and SEA should be postponed until a well designed and orchestrated programme is developed and attention is paid to all the prerequisites.
