KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Government has announced changes to the 2021 sitting of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP).

Addressing a virtual post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday, Education, Youth and Information Minister, Fayval Williams, said that the Grade Six Ability Test, which was originally set for February 23 and rescheduled for March 25, has again been postponed. 

The new date for the examination is May 26.

In addition, as was the case last year, there will be no Performance Task or Curriculum-Based Test.

Placement of students in high schools will be done using the May 26 Ability Test scores combined with the results of the Grade Four Performance Task exams in Language Arts and Mathematics that the students would have taken in 2019.

Williams said that the changes were brought about by restrictions to contain the spike in cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Jamaica.

She said that following consultations with stakeholders in the education sector, it was agreed that students “would be best served by utilising a similar format that was used in 2020 for the placement of our grade-six students into high schools”.

She noted that parents already have the grade-four scores “so they know where their child is, so the focus now is only on the Ability Test”.

The education minister said that based on the data guiding the ministry, the combination of the Grade Four Performance Task with this year’s Ability Test, is the only reliable method to determine the placement of students in high school.

“I am advised that the use of the Grade Four Performance Task scores alone as a placement mechanism would not give enough data points to reliably rank students for placement. It is, therefore, important that the Ability Test is done on Wednesday, May 26,” she said.

Administration of the Ability Test will be in all primary-level institutions, and presided over by external persons contracted by the ministry.