Using only Grade Six assessment for secondary school placements is anti-poor

Former Minister of Education Henry Jeffrey has criticised the decision by the Ministry of Education to discontinue using the National Grade Two and Grade Four assessments in the score to decide secondary school placement, saying it is “anti-working class.”

Writing in his “Future Notes” column in the May 4, 2016 edition of the Stabroek News, Jeffrey opined that secondary school placements based on the single National Grade Six  Assessment (NGSA), like its predecessor the Secondary School Secondary Examination (SSEE), will do nothing to aid stakeholder participation.

He argued that working class people, many of whom live in fractured homes and poor conditions and who hardly have enough time to eke out a living much less be involved in a lengthy and apparently meaningless process, will suffer the most from the dismantling of the