Newly elected JTA president calls for review of PEP
TRELAWNY, Jamaica-Newly installed President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) Dr Mark Smith has called for the review of aspects of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations.
PEP replaced the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) as the national secondary school placement test in the 2018-2019 academic year.
“Minister, I traverse around this country and I am struck by the plethora of calls from teachers and students re the PEP examination. Some say it is nothing more than GSAT on steroids…and Jamaicans we don’t use steroids,” Smith said.
He was delivering the presidential address during the investiture ceremony at the 60th annual JTA conference in the presence of Education Minister Fayval Williams at the Ocean Coral Spring Hotel in Trelawny, Monday night.
Smith contended that some aspects of the examination are not age-appropriate and very complex.
“One fundamental aims focused on reducing the stress created by high stakes single examination facilitated a one go. The reality is we have not stretched over three years and we are seeing burn out among our children.
We are asking you [Education] Minister to listen to us, we are on the ground we see it,” the JTA president argued.
He urged the minister of education to revise the writing of the exam.
“Minister, I believe you and your team will take counsel and you will revisit and re-examine that. While we embrace the idea and the concept behind the PEP of promoting greater level of creativity, diverging thinking, and critical thinking, we believe some of the challenges lie in the age appropriateness and complexity of some of the task the children are asked to do,” he argued.
“I yearn for a day when our education system will not just create pockets of excellence and a sea of mediocrity but move towards embracing every child having that sense and that opportunity to be everything and everything they can imagine. And inclusive education that does not seek to pick some winners and others as losers but understand that as human beings our trajectory to success takes different paths,” he added.
