By Ashecia Sam. Updated 12:00 a.m., Thursday, June 25, 2020, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
Kingstown, St. Vincent (ONE NEWS SVG) – Some 1,920 grade six students across the country are expected to sit the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) final exams from today (June 25), through tomorrow.
Of the 1,920 students registered to sit the exam, 956 are females, while 964 are males, an official from the Ministry of Education told One News SVG.
The CPEA is administered by the regional examinations body, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).
One News SVG was informed that this year, the students are expected to sit the final exams at their respective schools, a change from previous years when students from multiple schools in different zones sat exams together at designated examination centers.
The change is due to COVID-19 protocols in place against large gatherings, the source told One News SVG.
Students are expected to sit exams in Mathematics, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Science, spread across both days.
This year’s final exams are being held more than a month later than last year’s sitting which took place on Thursday, May 16 and Friday, May 17, 2020.
Students across St. Vincent and the Grenadines had to switch to an online modality for instruction as the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person classes, cutting short semester two by one week, before the Easter break.
Semester three remained online for most students across St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
But, grade six students were among the finalizing students across the country who returned to their classrooms for in-person classes on May 25, to get advanced preparation for the CPEA.
The CPEA external exam now used to assess students leaving primary school, replaced the Common Entrance Examination in 2014.
The CPEA presents a coursework component which assesses students as they go through grade six and before they reach grade six to measure their competencies.
This means that the final exam the students will write today (June 25), and tomorrow will not be the only assessment of their competencies to transition from primary school to secondary school.
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