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Several private schools ordered to stop SBAs

Oct 09, 2009 News

Several private schools have been ordered to stop doing School Based Assessment (SBA) as the regional examinations body tightens up on its monitoring process.
The decision comes at the time when the Guyana Government is seeking to regularize private schools which have been mushrooming across the country.
Yesterday, education officials acknowledged that they have notified a “number of private schools” that the Ministry will stop accepting SBA projects from students attending those schools. Public and a number of private schools will continue as usual with their handling of SBAs.
Students from these targeted schools will now have to write a Paper 3, an additional test, to make up grades.
The directive was issued to private schools which may not have proper monitoring systems in place to ensure the credibility of SBAs.
According to a senior education official, the request was made by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) which manages the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).
She was unwilling to disclose details but said that the relevant private schools would have been notified.
SBAs are special assignments/projects that are given to students during the course of the school year, under the guidance of the subject teacher. It accounts for as much as 20 per cent of the final marks.
If a student performs well with his/her SBA, then that person automatically goes into the final examination with an edge.
Yesterday, the headmaster of an East Bank Demerara private school acknowledged that he has received the request.
“I was just told about it. Students can write a Paper 3 as the alternative. But I would have liked to have some more explanations for this,” he said.
According to another education official who asked not to be named, there have been cases in the past where teachers have demanded monies to assist students with SBAs.
There are also beliefs that some private schools in order to boost ratings would “go all out” to ensure students do well with SBAs.
The Minister had also stressed that the new Education Act which should be tabled in Parliament before the end of the year will deal with the situation in a more systematic way.
“This Act will be coming into place… I am hoping by early next year, as I am hoping to table it in Parliament by the end of the year.”
A final draft of the new Act has been completed and it has been sent to the Attorney General’s Chambers for finalization. It will soon be taken to Cabinet and thence to Parliament, according to Minister Baksh.
He had disclosed that the need to modernize the Act is rooted in the fact that the current legislation being utilized is over 50 years old.
Minister Baksh pointed out that through the Act, the Ministry will be able to regulate private schools and establish school boards as a legal entity and will allow for the appointment of boards and outline their roles and responsibilities.
At the moment there are about 32 public institutions, including technical institutes, that are governed by boards.
Minister Baksh has, however, acknowledged that there are a few of these institutions in which conflicts have arisen due to the fact that they are not acquainted with their roles and responsibilities.

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