Education Ministry facilitates “mock exams” for NGSA students

As the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) draws near, the Education Ministry is striving to ensure that students have a sense of familiarity when sitting the exams, which are slated for March 28 and 29.
The mock (trial) exams commenced on Tuesday at primary schools throughout the country with the sitting of Mathematics Papers One and Two.
Speaking about the familiarisation project, Director of the National Centre for Education Research Development (NCERD), Jennifer Cumberbatch on Tuesday said that this approach was necessary to ensure that students acquaint themselves with the examination. She is also of the opinion that this approach will augur well for the continued improvement of grades among the nation’s Grade Six pupils.
The Director is confident that the NGSA grades will continue to improve. She based this assessment on the improvement already made in the Mathematics pass rate, owing to the intervention of the current administration.
The objective of the mock exams is to identify and correct weaknesses that students may have. In light of this, the mock exam test scripts and scores will be forwarded to the Regional Education Offices, then to the central ministry. Cumberbatch stated that the Ministry will have enough time to “pick apart the results”, so that weak points could be identified and improved.
Additionally, Cumberbatch said that evaluators would continue to visit schools to offer support and such an approach should not be seen as a disciplinary one.