Education Ministry Reminds Parents About Cancellation Of PEP Performance Task And Curriculum-Based Test

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is reminding parents, guardians and school administrators that due to the continuing negative effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the decision to cancel some sittings of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) for 2020/2021 still stands.

The PEP Performance Task and Curriculum-based Test at grade six have been cancelled.

As a result, a hybrid approach will be used to place students in secondary schools, similar to what was done in 2020.

Placement at the secondary level will be done using the scores from the Grade Four Performance Task that the students completed in 2019 and the Ability Test to be administered on May 26, 2021 at centres across the island.

The Ministry said that a consulting psychometrician has advised that the Grade Four Performance Task and the Ability Test are standardised assessments and thus provide a reliable means of placing the students.

School-level assessment data are not recommended due to the lack of standardisation in curriculum coverage and scoring across schools.

The Ministry will also administer a diagnostic test at the grade-six level to gather data on students’ achievement with respect to the National Standard Curriculum.

Data from this assessment will be sent to the secondary schools in which the students are placed to guide their learning plans for the new school year.

For further information, persons may contact the Student Assessment Unit by telephone at 922-5680, 922-2420, 948-9254 or by email at terryann.thomas@moey.gov.jm.