Teachers who volunteer to supervise the administration of this year’s Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam have been assured they will be allowed to remain at their respective schools while vice-principals and school supervisors will be mandated to travel to other centres to supervise the process.
Additionally, teachers who volunteer to supervise the exam will be given a subsequent day off, while those who choose to remain at home will face no penalties.
According to Education Minister Anthony Garcia, it became necessary for them to meet with the T&T Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) to hammer out an agreement on the way forward, after TTUTA’s annual conference of delegates advised their members that SEA supervision did not form part of their remit.
Upon learning of that, Garcia said it became imperative that they met with TTUTA to arrive at a compromise that would not usurp the authority handed down by the union’s highest body. Scheduled to take place on May 5, Garcia has assured the SEA exam would take place without any interruptions.
Speaking during a press conference yesterday at the ministry’s head office, Hayes Street, St Clair, Garcia said: “We want to ensure that our students who will be writing exams in two weeks will do so without any unnecessary burdens.
“We respect the position that has been taken by the annual conference of delegates of TTUTA. We have no problem with that but we have a responsibility to ensure that our children benefit from all that we have to offer.” As such, school principals, along with the School Supervisor III, will be responsible for compiling the supervision roster for each school detailing the number of teachers that will be needed to supervise the exam.
Seated alongside Minister in the Ministry of Education, Dr Lovell Francis, and TTUTA president Devanand Sinanan, Garcia reported:
“Through the spirit of compromise, we have reached an agreement without prejudice that will allow the free running of the exam so that everything will be in order on May 5, 2016.”
He also revealed that in an attempt to settle the matter, the ministry had also sought the assistance of the acting Chief Personnel Officer, Beresford Riley, and an eminent attorney who confirmed the new agreement was “solid as a rock.”
Stressing the arrangement will only hold for this year, Garcia said further discussions would take place post-SEA t to arrive at a more permanent solution.
Asked if similar arrangements were being put in place for the administration of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exam (CAPE), Garcia assured that they would follow similar lines.
Endorsing the minister’s statements and assurances, Sinanan said TTUTA had communicated to its members that “the supervision of national exams does not form part of the remit of teachers.
“It is not part of our job description, therefore the supervision of any such exam is voluntary on their part.”
Pressed to explain what had caused the TTUTA body to make such a drastic announcement, he said while teachers had always volunteered in the past, a problem had arisen in the last couple years after teachers were “instructed” to report to out-of-the-way centres and locations, other than where they were normally assigned to work.
Sinanan said: “Some teachers felt the requests were unreasonable, especially considering some of the places they were being asked to report to on the day of the SEA.” Although it was brought to the ministry’s attention before, no definitive agreement had been decided upon.
Asked what plans were in place to ensure that each school had the requisite number of supervisors on the day of the exam, Garcia said:
“We have contingency plans in place but we have been assured that it might not be necessary to invoke those plans.”
Both Garcia and Sinanan urged parents and teachers not to place an undue stress on the students in the run-up to the exam.