“REPORT ON THE REVIEW OF THE SECONDARY SCHOOL LEAVING ASSESSMENTS”

ROADTOWN Tortola BVI, March 22nd, 2012  --  Madame Speaker, on December 19, 2011 at a sitting of this Honorable House, I made a statement on several issues, one being the standard of education in our Territory. I want to reiterate as I did then that if our children are to compete in this world that has become a small community then we must ensure that we give them an education that will take them beyond our shores where they will excel among the best.

To do so Madame Speaker, we must continually ensure that our education system has integrity, and that we have quality assurance systems in place to monitor our examinations and the results. Furthermore, if we want to know how well we are doing, we must be able to compare ourselves with others using regional and international benchmarks.

Madame Speaker at that time I noted that an ad hoc committee was commissioned to look into the examination processes and outcomes over the past three years. On that Committee we had three past educators who have made outstanding contributions to our education system.

They each at some time served as a principal in our system. Chairing the Committee was Mr. Elmore Stoutt and working with him were Dr. Charles Wheatley and Ms. Germaine Scatliffe. This initiative was put in place to look at how we do things and bring about improvement in what we do to ensure high standards are maintained at all times; to ensure that standards are not being lowered; and that our children are being prepared to compete effectively with the rest of the World. The report was submitted on February 29, which I have a copy in my hand and wish to lay on the table of this Honourable House.

We have had complaints Madame Speaker from the Community College, the private sector, the general population and even our students that our secondary school graduates are not ready in several regards. With these questions being constantly raised about the quality of our school leavers, it is incumbent on us to do something about it

 We realize that our students must be able to matriculate to schools of higher learning anywhere in the world and therefore must be well prepared for this in order to succeed. How then can we improve what we do to ensure this? We started by trying to understand our processes, by taking a critical look at what exists.

The purpose of the review Madame Speaker was to:
1. Assess the situation with regard to the conduct of the secondary school leaving examinations over the last three years and the determination of the final grades and overall student performance

2. To determine the examination process

3. To examine the determination of the marking schemes and the computation of final grades for all stages of the assessment process over the period

Having completed the review, the Committee was charged to present a comprehensive situation report with recommendations highlighting the significant issues and requirements for strengthening the examination process in the education system.

Madame Speaker, the Committee looked at the examination records at the schools, public and private, who participate in the National School Leaving Examinations. These schools Madame Speaker were Bregado Flax Educational Centre - Secondary Division, BVI Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School, St. Georges Secondary, Claudia Creque Educational Centre – Secondary Division and the Elmore Stoutt High School. Records at the Department of Education were also reviewed as well as interviews conducted with principals as well as education administrators in the Department of Education.

The findings of the review Madame Speaker indicated a number of inconsistencies in the examination process and difficulties in identifying one standard across the board for all of our students. For example, the concept of supplementary assessment must be reviewed and a determination made if it is beneficial to continue this practice. It was noted that the timing of the supplemental assessment process varied during the period it has been in existence.

In addition the supplemental assessment process was an assessment done by teachers and not a formal examination or calculated policy administered by the Department. It was also found that there was a steady increase in the number of students doing supplementary examinations. This Madame Speaker cannot be allowed to continue.

This report showed the dire need to implement a Territorial Examination Board to ensure that our system has more integrity. It was noted that our examination process needs validity and reliability. This can be achieved if the Department has greater involvement in the entire process from setting to marking scripts and the collation of grades through that Examination Board

I am happy to say Madame Speaker that this had begun. However, there is still more to be done and it is incumbent on the Department that more accurate records are maintained as the end product is National Certification.

Madame Speaker if we are to continue on the path of a National School Leaving Examination process, then it is important, as pointed out in the recommendations of the report, that the weighting of the in-school assessment and the across–school assessment (the school leaving examination) must be revised; the grading scheme must be revised, the supplementary assessment if kept, must be strengthened and must be reflected in the students’ final grades.

Based on the present system and its calculations, students that perform well in fourth forth and the first term in fifth form do not even have to sit the final school leaving exam because the percentage gained from that exam would not be needed for a passing grade. Madame Speaker, how then can it be that that is the exam by which we tell the world that our students are at the necessary standard?

In addition, more of our students should be sitting and passing regional and international examinations. Only then will we know how our students measure up. In all of this, we must determine what our end product will be. When a student graduates from one of our institutions, what should that student ‘look like’, what would we expect that student’s competencies to be.

We just concluded Education Week 2012 activities. I was inspired by the theme of the week, “Creating a Culture of Excellence Through Intervention and Prevention.” If any individual seeks to achieve anything in life, with excellence, they will be able to leave our shores and excel at anything, anywhere Madame Speaker.

It is only by encouraging our students to pursue higher standards that we can assure their success and essentially, the success of these Virgin Islands.

This assessment indicated to me Madame Speaker that our standards have fluctuated over the years. Our benchmark for an educated secondary school child in our Territory seems to be on an ever-changing curve.

Madame Speaker it is not the intention to make things harder for our students, this report and the work from my Ministry moving forward will be to make it easier for our students to assimilate to tertiary education, become readily employed out of high school and excel.

To say that raising the standard to a regional benchmark will be too hard on our students, to me Madame Speaker that is saying that our children cannot cut it and I refuse to accept that Madame Speaker. I refuse.

If we do not get a grip on this situation, provide our teachers and students with the support needed for higher standards, we jeopardize the future of our young people to be empowered in their own home, we make it difficult for our labour force to carry on and essentially Madame Speaker, we put the social and economic structure of the Virgin Islands at risk and out of reach for our children.

The 500 plus young Virgin Islanders that identified themselves as unemployed in this Territory from the recent Youth Unemployment Register is a hard fact to prove this point Madame Speaker.

Madame Speaker, since the launch of the ad-hoc committee I have read and heard some disturbing accounts of why this committee was set up. It has never been and is not intended to shame any student, parent, teacher, administrator or politician. Instead, it is for us as a community to face the elephant in the room of our troubled education system so that we can find opportunities to educate the minds and nurture the talents that will take this country to greater heights.

I strongly believe that the economic control that has made this country so unique and that has allowed many of us success thus far, should remain in the hands of Virgin Islanders. It is through our education system that we will ensure our young people are ready and prepared to maintain these opportunities of economic empowerment.

As it stands right now, we are on the precipice to take that unique quality of our country away from our young people and this report should be seen as our dose of reality and our opportunity to pull ourselves back.

Madame Speaker, I thank you for the time to speak on this important issue and I hope that by laying this report in this Honourable House, all of us can come together and do the Honourable thing for our young people and begin to build an education system that rivals the best throughout the world. Our children deserve that, and I know that these Virgin Islands will surely be the better because of it.

Thank you Madame Speaker.

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