KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information has postponed the sitting of all the remaining national assessments at the primary level until the latter half of the Christmas Term of the upcoming 2021/2022 academic year.     

The ministry, in a bulletin issued today, stated that the decision was taken after a series of consultations with key stakeholders and consultant psychometricians concerning the administration of the 2021 sitting of Primary Exit Profile (PEP) Grades Four and Five assessments.                                                            

The assessments to be postponed include the Grade Three Diagnostic Test, the Grade Four Performance Tasks and the Grade Five Performance Tasks.                

Based on this decision, effective today, Boards of management/principals of schools that have been approved by the Ministry of Health and Wellness as COVID-19 compliant, should ensure that all grades four and five students are scheduled for face-to-face instruction in preparation for their examinations.     

Meanwhile, the Grade Nine Achievement Test (GNAT) has been cancelled for 2021. All students registered to sit the GNAT, will be placed in schools that are in proximity to their home address and/or attending school consistent with the approach used in June 2020.                                                                      

For additional information, persons may send an email to terryann.thomas@moey.gov.jm or by telephone at 876-455-3003.