Barbados Education Press Conference, 9th June 2021 Takeaway Summary

The Ministry Of Education, Technological And Vocational Training highlighted some proposed reforms to the school system as well as plans for the rest of the 2020/2021 school year. Here are some takeaway points.

• 11-plus will be on 28th July 2021.
• Deferrals will be given to students who are not ready to take the exam.
• Students who defer their exams will still be eligible to qualify for scholarships.
• The current national curriculum is not meeting the needs of all children. The Ministry of Education and the stakeholders are in the process of developing plans to improve the relevance of the curriculum for students at school. The aim will be to provide alternative programs that are of interest and will make learning fun.
• There are plans to address the deficit of some students entering secondary school. Programs will be school-specific.
• There will be a reduced workload for first formers where students reflect major deficits. For some schools, the first form will be divided into two sectors (lower first form & first form) based on a pre-designated threshold.
• A committee was created to develop initiatives to address deficits experienced by students before transitioning to secondary school.
• Content of numeracy and literacy will be aligned to the areas of focus and interests of the students.
• There will be a pilot project implemented at Frederick Smith Secondary School. Findings from this will be used to inform the implementation at other schools.
• All schools will continue to develop a core curriculum which the ministry will designate. Schools will have the latitude to introduce specific applied programs and support will be given by the Ministry Of Education.
• Courses will be offered by Erdiston Teachers’ Training College to help teachers develop competence in remedial and other areas.
• The ministry will consult with stakeholders and will provide monitoring to ensure that the new programs run effectively.
• There will be the creation of national qualifications and credit frameworks.