7,602 Students Sat Placement Exams Today

A total of 7,602 students attending all-age, primary and junior high schools sat examinations today (May 8) for placement in secondary institutions.

The number comprises 5,014 students, who sat the Grade Nine Achievement Test (GNAT), and, 2,588 students involved in the Alternative Secondary Transition Education Programme (ASTEP).

GNAT was administered in 132 centres across the island and students were tested in Mathematics and Language Arts.

Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, Dr. Grace McLean, told JIS News that GNAT is not a “pass or fail” test.

“All students, who write the examination, will be placed in high and technical high schools,” she said.

She informed that students were allowed four school choices and they will be placed based on their proximity to the institution and available space.

For students seeking entry to the Sydney Pagon and Knockalva agricultural schools, Dr. McLean informed that they must not be older than 17 years of age or younger than 15 years of age on September 1, 2013.

Candidates should have been born between September 1, 1996 and September 1, 1998.

Turning to the ASTEP students, who were also tested in Mathematics and Language Arts, Dr. McLean informed that they will be manually placed by regional representatives into selected high or technical high schools with identified spaces.

Only students, who attain at least a 60 per cent average in both subjects will be placed using this method.

ASTEP was designed as a two-year transitional programme to provide a safety net for children who, at the end of the primary level, did not possess the prerequisite literacy skills and competencies to successfully access traditional secondary education.