Preparations Being Made For Special Needs Students

Acting Chief Education Officer, Dr. Kasan Troupe, says that the necessary preparations are being made to facilitate students with special needs, who will be sitting the May 26 Ability Test component of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP).

Speaking at a virtual Parenting Conference on March 31, Dr. Troupe noted that the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, caters to students with various special needs ranging from dyslexia, visual and hearing impairments, those for whom English is not their first language, among other things.

She said that the assistance provided includes sign language interpreters, linguistic aides, scribes and the translation of examination scripts to braille.

“We also recruit persons to train them. They are in the exam room to ensure that all our boys and girls are fairly treated in the exam and they get an equal opportunity to earn their place in high school,” she pointed out.

Dr. Troupe is advising parents/guardians of pupils with special needs to ensure that the students take the psychometric and psychoeducational tests and that the results are submitted to the Ministry’s Special Education Division for review.

“From the psychoeducational assessment, there are different recommendations that are made by the psycho educational specialist for us to take into consideration,” she noted.

Placement of students in high school will be done using the Ability Test scores combined with the results of the Grade Four Performance Task exams in Language Arts and Mathematics that the students would have taken in 2019.