May 3, 2017: The Ministry of Education is assuring parents and students that all is in place for Thursday’s Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA), which will take place at 546 Primary Schools serving as examination centres across Trinidad and Tobago. This year 18, 240 students are registered to write SEA, with boys numbering 9193 and girls numbering 9047. Each examination centre will be managed by the school’s Principal, while teachers from other schools will administer the test performing the duties of Assessment Supervisor, Assistant Assessment Supervisor and Testers. Training was conducted for these roles from April 25 to 27, 2017.
Schools serving as examination centres will be dismissed from 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 3, 2017. This is to facilitate preparations for the SEA and a meeting of the Test Administration Teams to ensure that all are in place at the centres. On the morning of the SEA, officials from the Ministry of Education in Trinidad and the Division of Education, Innovation and Energy in Tobago will be deployed to the examination centres for quality assurance purposes, to ensure that the administration of the SEA goes smoothly.
Distribution and Collection of SEA Test Booklets will take place from 4:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 4, 2017. School Supervisors will receive the question papers and distribute them to Assessment Supervisors. Amalgamated Security Services Limited has been contracted to transport the examination material to and from the various drop off points in the Education Districts. The Ministry of Education also has drivers on standby in the event of any emergencies.
Following the examination, test scripts from all Educational Districts in Trinidad and Tobago will be returned to Head Office. Scripts will be packaged according to Educational Districts, schools and subjects and handed over to the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) personnel on May 8, 2017. Batching, marking and data capture will be conducted from May 8 to 21, 2017 after which CXC personnel will return to Barbados with the scripts for processing of the results.
This year, 261 students will receive special concessions during the SEA in the form of:
- Extra time
- Bathroom breaks
- Provision of a writer or reader
- Sign language interpreter
- Preferential seating
- Large Print or Braille Scripts
- Breaks to take medication
Special concessions are granted to students with hearing, visually, health or physical impairments; learning disabilities; Borderline Intellectual / Functioning Intellectual Disability; Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Global Development Delay or Emotional Behavioural Difficulties.
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For further information please contact:
The Communications Division
Ministry of Education
868-622-2181