Limited face-to-face learning and absenteeism are among concerns driving fear into school leaders about the readiness of grade six students who will sit curriculum-based tests of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP).

The students are scheduled to sit the exams today and tomorrow.

Some of the educators told the Jamaica Observer that while there is now a full resumption of physical classes, there were nevertheless several students who barely attended online school last year, causing them to miss out on important lessons.

But the educators admitted that they tried their best with the students and even called them to school over the Easter holidays to improve their readiness.

“We are as ready as we can be. I don’t think there is anything else we can do right now. For the Easter holiday, we just had the Good Friday and Easter Monday but we were back on Tuesday. The teachers have given up their holidays just to make sure students are as adequately prepared as possible,” Central Branch All-Age School Principal Michael Sutherland said, noting that 60 of his students will be sitting the exam.

He said he is optimistic that the students will produce good results but was bothered about those who have missed out on classes for a long period.

“I am being positive because I do expect a surprise. Our children have really been working hard. There are students who have not shown up for classes until a month ago. They just resurfaced and these same students didn’t even come for the extra week of classes. So I am worried about those,” he said.

At Maxfield Park Primary School there are 95 students scheduled for the exams.

The school’s principal, Tracey-Ann Holloway Richards, told the Observer that students aren’t fully prepared for exams because they were operating in an online space for the first term.

“This is term two, and the exams are being administered, so I know for a fact the teachers have done their best to prepare the students and the children in their own way to see how much they could revise for their exam,” she said.

“So we are hoping for the best and that the tests will not be too hard and that the education ministry will exercise some leniency, with regard to how they mark these exams so the children can pass for schools suitable of their choice,” she added.

Asked if she is confident that there will be good exams results, Holloway Richards said, “If we were operating in regular face-to-face classes, I could confidently say ‘Yes, I am expecting good passes’, but we had quite a few students who were not able to access online classes for term one and that has been detrimental for them because they would have missed out key information that they should have known, so it is just the grace of God that is going to carry these children through.”

At Salvation Army School for the Blind there is similar concern for the students.

Noting that eight students will be sitting the exam, the school’s principal, Iyeke Erharuyi, explained that although preparations could have been better for students, they are “ready to go”.

“We are at a point where we know they can go and do it. People have to understand where we are coming from. We are always at a disadvantage, but now disadvantages are general to everyone. We know that the teachers have done their best. We have not had holidays for them, so we think we have done our best,” said Erharuyi.

At Burnt Savannah Primary, 84 students will be sitting the PEP.

According to Acting Principal Gary Johnson, “There is a gap in readiness for the students, but I think we have reached a good level of confidence in the students because we have worked overtime for extra lessons and we did Easter classes. The teachers also worked assiduously with some parents who have pulled their weight.”

Concerns had been mounting among stakeholders in the education sector about the students’ readiness to sit exams, which led to several changes in issuing PEP components.

A meeting held in February by the National Standards Curriculum/PEP Monitoring Committee saw the cancellation of the performance-based test component of the examination, which was scheduled for March 22 and 24.

Additionally, the ability test, originally set for February, was pushed back to March.