Roseau, Dominica –May 22, 2017…The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development will, this week, administer the annual Grade Six National Assessment (G6NA).
1,010 students, 479 girls and 531 boys, are set to write the exams on Thursday, May 25 and Friday May 26. This number represents a slight decrease, (6 %), from last year when 1080 students sat the exam.
The majority of the candidates attend schools in the Western District (547), while the others are from the Eastern (127), Southern (189) and the Northern (237) Districts.
The examinations are scheduled to begin at 8:00 am, with an assembly at 7:45, at 53 centers around the island and will be supervised by over one hundred (100) teachers.
On day one (1), students will be tested on Language Arts and Social Studies, while on day two (2), Mathematics and Science will be administered. With the exception of Language Arts, all exams will be single multiple-choice papers. The Language Arts examination will consist of two (2) components; a sixty (60) item multiple choice paper and a composition paper.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development solicits the assistance of all parents and requests that they DO NOT remain on the compound of any testing center while the examinations are in progress. Additionally, it is advised that parents allow their children some time to relax on the few days leading up to the examinations.
The Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development wishes every student success in the upcoming Grade Six (6) National Assessment.
most kids act like they don’t care anymore….like i heard one say “even if i draw on the paper i must go high school”…………I only feel sorry for the student who work hard to do their best and then has to sit with kids who don’t give a shit
One of the greatest crimes done to education in Dominica was when Dame Eugenia Charles’ fine system Junior Secondary Programme (JSP) was destroyed and scrapped after she left office and all pupils were forced into the purely academic stream.
Now, by the time many students reach 3rd Form they become drop outs because they cannot cope with pure academic subjects and as a result they have no skills to benifit themselves or the nation. Today we need to be more imaginative to create an education system that responds to our country’s needs. Not this worn out secondary school learning by rote. May be good for some but not for all.
I totally agree but would add, it is not so much that students do not have the ability to cope but that the subjects offered do not incite their interest. Hence, as was written on my son’s D.G.S. 3rd form report card: he’s too laid back!
I continue to maintain that this type of testing – tests that put pressure on a child as from the age of nine – ranks as a form of child abuse and all the more so due to success being linked to the indirect monetary rewards of scholarships and bursaries.
Furthermore, the tests do not assess a child’s creative ability. At least 30% of children are creatively, rather than academically inclined. At this point in time Dominica is in desperate need of creative minds: minds that should not be relegated at that tender age.