Farewell to P.S.E.s? Minister of Education Weighs in

Francis Fonseca

Are Primary School Examinations a thing of the past?  Since COVID-19 disrupted the academic calendar last year, Standard Six students have not been able to sit the annual papers.  A change of government in late 2020 has also seen a shift in philosophy where P.S.E.s, as a standard means of academic assessment, are concerned.  According to Minister of Education Francis Fonseca, the goal is to do away with this antiquated means of testing primary school students.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education

“While we need ongoing assessments of our students, that is critically important for evaluating how your education system is working, how your students are performing, that’s critically important.  But certainly we are of the view that examinations like BJAT and P.S.E. have really passed their time and we need to develop new and creative models of properly assessing our students.  So that’s what we’re looking at.  We’ve gone at least two years without the P.S.E.  So I think that that tells you a lot.  So we’re looking at that and we’re having a discussion about that internally which we will have with our other stakeholders.  But that’s certainly my view as the minister.”

Marleni Cuellar, Host, Open Your Eyes

“Is the plan to not have these exams this school year?”

Francis Fonseca

“No, we will not have these exams this school year and as the Minister of Education, my hope is that we don’t have those exams in the future.  I think we should get rid of those examinations, certainly the P.S.E. and as I said, develop more creative and more modern models of assessment.”