It was smooth sailing at the Princess Margaret Secondary School (PMSS), today, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, as students from across neighbouring districts visited the Six Roads, St Philip examination centre, eager to sit the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination (BSSEE), also known as the 11-Plus Exam.
The exam centre housed 198 sitters which comprised of students from five schools including: Bayley’s Primary, Hilda Skeene Primary, Reynold Weekes Primary, Cuthbert Moore Primary, and St Catherine’s Primary.
Speaking to Loop News, during a brief visit to the compound, Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training Kay McConney stated that she was “generally satisfied” with the execution of the examination this year.
“This year, you know, we have about 3,011 students, who will be taking the exam this year compared to about 3,170, who finally took it last year and this includes a number of non-Barbadians, it includes Barbadian students, it includes students who were home-schooled, so there is a variety of those students. We know that this year, we have 18 early sitters, those who are 10 years old, and they can advance through the system faster, and we really want to continue as we have done to accommodate those students who are able to move faster through the system.”
Accommodations for Special Requests
Minister McConney explained that the Ministry had made accommodations for students who had special requests; this included early sitters and those who needed additional help during the examination.
“In addition, we have persons who have the opportunity to be exempted from the exam altogether, because they recognise that with whatever accommodations, they still will not be able to and therefore those students, Ms Warner and the teams will make sure that they’re properly assigned based on the internal criteria, which they use.
“And then you have those students who have parents who have decided to defer, in other words, we don’t want to do it this year. We don’t want to do it early. We don’t want to do it when we met, we were meant to, let’s do it just at least a year later. And so we make accommodations for students who are working at a different pace, and that’s what a system that is fair and that gives everybody a fighting chance. That’s what we do.”
L-R: Principal of the Princess Margaret Secondary School (PMSS), Ms Agard, Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Ms Kay McConey, Senior Education Officer and Head of Secondary Schools at the Ministry of Education, Ms Patricia Warner.
All Hands On Deck
The Minister of Education also explained that all hands were on deck to ensure that the day’s proceedings were executed without incident.
She said:
“Ms Warner, who is our head of secondary schools at the Ministry, our Senior Education Officer, as well as Ms Agard, who’s the principal here at Princess Margaret, and we took the opportunity this morning to do our rounds… We must recognise that all hands were on deck, this is a ministry life production so we bring in our clerical officers, we bring in our education officers, or Executive Director, administrative officers, they’re all here. Some of them are readers, some of them are here doing various things and so this is a whole of ministry effort every time. And so we said that we were generally satisfied and when we spoke to the invigilators, especially those who have charged for various rooms to make sure that the exams are administered properly, that they’re telling us they received the materials on time, they were properly instructed, and they were given adequate time to settle themselves and settle the students. And that for me, is what has to be at the beginning of this to at least make it as comfortable as we can for everyone. So I just want to say thank you to everyone who has made a contribution, the day has only just begun.”
Senior Education Officer and Head of Secondary Schools at the Ministry of Education, Ms Patricia Warner further explained how these students with special requests are accommodated:
“We’ve had to make accommodations for those students who will need different types of accommodations. You can have assistance for a reader, a writer if there are some disabilities, and those are really the major considerations. There are students who will have to have extra time, and that is extremely important, because at the pace that they would write, they would need that extra time, so they have extra time for each of the papers that are written on this day.”
McConey also highlighted other instances where some students needed additional accommodations.
“There are also those students who may ask just for a room a single room on their own system, because the distractions cannot be you know, they’re sensitive to certain distractions. And we have, on occasion had to make accommodations for students who are blind, but on this occasion from what the ministry has told me so far , we you don’t have any blind sitters on this occasion. We did have some last year, and in fact, we were able to make the necessary accommodations. And I just want to say so far, so good. Things are moving smoothly this morning. The parents are over by the gate, I know they are all anxious, we’ll say hello to them on our way out. But the students they’re all set up and they’re ready, and I’m pleased by the way things have gone so far.”
Fair Exam System
She further explained that the Ministry followed every protocol to ensure conditions are fair for all students sitting the examination.
“I think it is important for us to make sure firstly the security of the exams. And we have followed every single protocol that is required with regards to when they’re received, how they’re received, who receives them, who records it, where they are stored, how they are removed, when they’re removed, who distributes them, how they get here, and even up to this morning, how they even move from that special room where they’re held and then distributed to the classrooms. “
She added:
“And as I said to you, what we’re hearing from the invigilators, they’re pleased with how the process has gone so far.”
Following a tour of the Princess Margaret Secondary School (PMSS) examination centre, Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training, Ms Kay McConey spoke to parents who patiently waited on the outskirts of the school.
