Positive COVID students able to write exams as NGSA begins

Four students who have either tested positive for COVID-19 or live in the same home as someone who tested positive for the virus are being allowed to write the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) which began on Wednesday, August 04 and will conclude on Thursday, August 05.

Minister of Education Priya Manickhand told the News Room that special arrangements were made with the relevant Regional Health Officers to allow these students to write the exams.

“We are actually doing that in Region Six, Region Four and Georgetown where some students are either positive or there is a positive person in their home; so they are not certain if they are positive but are in quarantine,” the minister said.

The minister explained that this was done to cater to every student because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Over 14, 000 students are registered to write the exams, which are being done under strict COVID-19 guidelines.

This batch of students were not able to attend school for face-to- face learning for more than a year and as such the Ministry took a decision to have exams done based on work completed up to Grade Five level. The pandemic resulted in schools being closed while they were halfway through Grade Five and it is for this reason also that a consolidated curriculum was put in place.

“We hope that is going to forgive the period that they were out of school,” the minister said.

Nevertheless, Minister Manickchand is optimistic that the exam results will be similar to that of previous years before the pandemic.

She stated that the mock exams written in June in preparation for the actual exams indicated that the results “will not be too far off.”

On Wednesday English and Science exams will be written and on Thursday, Mathematics and Social Studies will be written.

Candidates are not required to wear their respective primary school uniforms, but they must be dressed modestly.

As a result of the pandemic, there are 33 new examination centres spread across the 11 education districts.

Additionally, emergency centres were also established to accommodate any candidate who may have tested positive for COVID-19.

In preparation for the exams, the Ministry would have distributed study and care packages.