Witnessing the success of the students in the recently concluded Primary Exit Profile (PEP) has indeed renewed and invigorated my hope in the slow and steady reconstruction of the early childhood education system.

Their achievement is simply remarkable, given the crippling effects of COVID-19 when students and administrators were forced to adapt to the online modality for classes.

The product offered to individuals attending educational institutions is socialisation, and it is easy to see why the online class environment makes it difficult for teachers to properly gauge the cognitive and emotional development of their students. Fortunately, COVID-19 infection rates plateaued and normality was brought back to the Jamaican classroom, or so we thought.

Post-COVID-19, we feared that the absence of face-to-face teaching and learning would irrevocably damage the critical thinking skills of our students and could lead to them leaving the education system with below average competency levels and underdeveloped emotional intelligence.

However, there is renewed hope. An article written by Brittny Hutchinson, staff reporter for the Jamaica Observer, titled ‘Joy as 86 per cent of PEP students get a school of choice’ highlighted that most students’ success across the subject areas was due to the arduous work and collaborative efforts of their parents and teachers. Another Observer article, titled ‘Education minister encouraged by increase in students’ PEP proficiency scores’, iterated that the Minister of Education Fayval Williams reported that there was a marginal but significant increase in all subject areas for the 36,105 students who partook in this year’s sitting.

PEP, the brainchild of the Ministry of Education and Youth, was mandated to replace the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in the 2018-2019 academic year in order to foster the development of 21st-century skills, such as critical thinking and effective communication. In my candid opinion, this was — and still is — a great start to developing the cognitive skills needed to prepare young minds to manage the demands of the future.

Credit must be given where it is due; therefore, I must commend the Ministry of Education for its role in the success of this year’s PEP cohort.

But while we celebrate the students’ achievements, let us be vigilant as they make the transition to secondary school.

Dujean Edwards is a student at the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or dujeanedwards@gmail.com