Minister commends parents who prepared their children for Grade Six PEP exams
Toriann Ellis / Our Today
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Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information Dana Morris Dixon has outlined that the Grade Six Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exam commences today (April 30) and Thursday (May 1).
Dixon, while speaking at the post-Cabinet press briefing, expressed gratitude to the parents and teachers who have played a vital role in preparing the students for these exams.
“I want to thank all our teachers who have been working so hard with our students. I want to thank the parents and know many parents are at the schools standing outside very nervous. I was one of those last year that was stressed out, and so I understand, and I commiserate with all the parents going through it today. But I know our students have been prepared well; their teachers have been preparing them very well, and I know that they will do very well in the exams today,” Dixon said.
The minister stated that there are 33,434 children taking the exam in this sitting. “We have taking the exam between today and tomorrow 17,042 boys and 16,392 girls, and we also have 45 students with special needs who are doing the exams, and I’m very happy when I see the numbers and see how inclusive we are in terms of having our students with special needs also taking the exam.”
Dixon also expressed that special accommodations have been granted to 556 students to aid in a smoother and comfortable sitting of the exams. “Many people don’t realise that the ministry really works with where our children are, and the Chief Education Officer (CEO) and her team do a fantastic job in ascertaining if students need extra time; for example, if they may need a reader or a shadow with them to help to calm them throughout the exam,” Dixon added.
The minister further stated that these accommodations include printing the scripts in large print or in braille for those who may need it. “So there’s a lot of work that’s done in terms of accommodating our students, and I want to thank the team at all of our regions that are out there today and that have worked really hard to make the exam process go very smoothly,” Dixon said.
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