All in Place for GSAT

The Ministry of Education has reported that all is in place for the 2015 sitting of the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).

The GSAT will be administered over a two-day period from Thursday, March 19 to Friday, March 20. A total of 38,470 students will sit the examination in 1,112 centres across the island.

Chief Education Officer, Dr. Grace McLean, said the Ministry is positive that all the necessary preparations have been made for the examination.

“All timetables have already been dispatched to the students and we are satisfied that the timetables represent the correct information for each student,” she said.

Dr. McLean was speaking at a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) ‘Think Tank’, on March 11.

Students will be tested on five major areas: Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, Language Arts and Communication Tasks.

Dr. McLean highlighted that provisions have been put in place for the over 200 special needs students who are set to participate in this year’s examinations as well as for those with other needs, such as language barriers.

In addition, the Chief Education Officer assured that students who were impacted by the Chikungunya virus will not be at a disadvantage as based on the Ministry’s survey, they have been adequately prepared.

“We encouraged our schools to ensure that they did as much extra time as possible during December, so that the students can be ready for the exam. We are satisfied that despite the issues we had with Chikungunya in September and October, that this will not jeopardize the students’ preparation and performance,” she said.

Dr. McLean reminded the public that the examination is objective and students are placed based on their performance and according to their selected high school choices.

“The placement of students is largely automated and done on the basis of performance and in relation to each student’s choice. The system is an objective one in which students’ performance is ranked by their standard composite scores starting with the student with the highest score then moving to the next highest score until it gets to the last student to be placed,” she said.

The Chief Education Officer informed that students who have not mastered the Grade Four Literacy Test after three opportunities and are still performing below the required grade level will be transitioned into an appropriate programme, based on their indentified learning needs.

Meanwhile, parents are being reminded to remain calm; to support rather than pressure the children; ensure that students are well rested, and prepare nutritious meals.

Students are being encouraged to listen to the instructions of examiners and concentrate on completing the papers on time; coordinate eye movement from question paper to the pre slugged answer sheet, and be confident in their preparation.

Parents and guardians are being advised to contact the Ministry’s regional offices should any issues or concerns arise.

GSAT results are expected to be published in June.