CPEA going to be positive experience for students – Gilchrist

As they await the sitting of the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) exams in St Vincent and the Grenadines for the first time, parents are being assured that the experience will be a positive one for their children.{{more}}

In the coming months, the current Grade 6 students of this nation will be the first to experience the CPEA, exams, which has replaced the Common Entrance examinations.

While speaking at the National Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, chief education officer Lou-Anne Gilchrist assured parents that there was nothing for them to be fearful about.

“I want to assure the parents whose children are now in Grade 6 that the CPEA is going to be a very positive experience for your students. In spite of your fears – and your fears are justified because it is a new assessment model – your children will do well,” Gilchrist said.

In her remarks, Gilchrist congratulated the students who placed in the top 10 of the 2013 Common Entrance Exams. However, the chief education officer pointed out that it was also important to focus on the quality and standard of all the students sitting the examinations.

“The difference between the top performer and the performer who performed at the bottom of the scale, ought not to be very great. We want all of our students at every level to achieve an acceptable standard of performance. That goes for their Common Entrance and it goes as well for their CSEC examinations as well as their CAPE examinations,” she said.

As part of the CPEA, students now have to complete school-based assessments, which will give them the opportunity to enter the final exam with a total of 40 per cent of their final mark.

“That’s an excellent opportunity for success,” Gilchrist declared. “We want that when we send forth a cohort of students, that we can claim that the entire cohort has performed at an exceptional standard.”

For this reason, Gilchrist pleaded with parents, teachers, Ministry of Education officials, students and stakeholders to play their role in promoting “not simply education for all, but quality education for all”.

“So, next year, if God saves our lives, we will be celebrating another set of accomplishments and I hope that the chief education officer will be able to report that the entire cohort has performed extremely well,” she said.

The top 10 students for the 2013 Common Entrance Examinations include Gian-Paul Baker, who placed first, Areanna St Luce, who placed second, Kelcey Allen, who placed third, Sariah Jackson and Zoe Porter, who tied for fourth, Delaan Nedd, who placed sixth, Kyle DaSilva, who placed seventh, Anthony Overing and Janique Nichols, who tied for the eighth position and Nneka McMillan, who placed tenth. (BK)