Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Fayval Williams, is reporting that 76 schools have started face-to-face teaching and learning as of January 12.

She said that 129 schools were approved for face-to-face classes at the beginning of the term on January 4, 2021, noting that these institutions are allowed a two-week period from January 4 to the 18, to fine-tune their preparations for schooling.

“We expect that more schools will be added to the list as the Ministry of Health and Wellness continues its physical inspections of schools,”

Mrs Williams said during the sitting of the House of Representatives on January 12.

The Minister informed that the focus for this term is the preparation of children for their Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), City & Guilds, Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), NCTVET and the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exams.

She noted that grade-six students are scheduled to sit the first of three components of the PEP exam, the Ability Test, on February 23.

“We are aware of the challenges, and so the Ministry has strategically scheduled the Ability Test first, as this test is not based on the children having been taught the body of subjects in the National Standards Curriculum,”

she told the House.

Mrs Williams explained that the results of the Ability Test

“will give us a sense of the potential rather than just the academic performance of our children. It will alert us as to what our children are capable of doing so we can adequately prepare them for the Performance Task and the Curriculum-based Test, which are based on the National Standards Curriculum and come later in May 2021”.

She noted that the focus between now and February 23 will be on getting students in a frame of mind to successfully sit the Ability Test, which comprises 40 multiple-choice questions during a period of 1.5 hours.