With all that is known about learning loss caused by pandemic school closures, it is logical to conclude that the poor results recorded in the 2022 SEA Exam are just early indicators of the extent of the educational setbacks suffered throughout the school system.
However, the gravity of the situation may not have sunk in for many of the parents and guardians of students who scored below 50 per cent. That might be why so few of them–just over 2,700 of the 9,000 low-scoring students placed in secondary schools–have signed up for the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) Vacation Revision Programme (VRP).
It is disappointing that so very few appreciate the urgent need for the remedial classes that will begin tomorrow at 33 centres across the country. Although there is a chance that more students will sign up during the first week of the VRP as walk-in registrations will be accepted up to Friday, there remains a huge problem for Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly and her team to tackle ahead of the new school year.
While some of the 12,000 students who scored below 50 per cent will be able to repeat the exam, thousands more are entering secondary schools in September lacking even basic proficiency in Mathematics, English Language, and other fundamental subjects.
These students were in a cohort who did most of their SEA preparations online and for these low-scoring candidates, the absence of in-person classes meant a complete disconnect from education. Not only did they lose some of the academic skills they had previously acquired but for two years they have missed gaining new ones.
Their SEA scores are just the start of the cumulative losses they are likely to suffer that will extend into their adult lives unless there are urgent interventions to get them back on track.
That is why the VRP must be one in a series of strategies adopted by the Ministry of Education. There will have to be a rigorous implementation of remedial programmes and other initiatives in the coming weeks and months to compensate for the significant loss of learning at all educational levels.
For the 2022-2023 school year that starts in September, consideration should be given to extended school hours and community-based classes supported by curricular materials to help children, particularly at the primary level, to gain foundational abilities.
There is an opportunity here for educators, with backing from corporate T&T, to devise and invest in equitable, long-term solutions.
Some focus should be on teacher quality through improved support structures, working conditions and professional growth opportunities. Collaborative efforts involving TTUTA and academics from The University of the West Indies (UWI), the University of T&T (UTT) may yield some creative responses to this learning deficit.
Other options can include extending the length of the school year to help students catch up to where they should be academically and making tutoring programmes available on the platforms, tools, and technologies used for online classes during the extended school closure.
Some challenging days are ahead for Minister Gadsby-Dolly and her team, and they will have to make some tough decisions about getting past this education crisis. They should see the woefully undersubscribed VRP as a sign of some tough school days ahead and make urgent interventions in time for the next school term.