AFTER weeks of uncertainty following Hurricane Melissa, school administrators are welcoming the Ministry of Education’s decision to revise the Primary Exit Profile (PEP), saying the changes give students a fairer opportunity to perform after widespread disruption to learning.

Principal of Vaz Preparatory School Karlene Bisnott-Hemmings told the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday that the revised assessment framework recognises that many students, particularly in western parishes, lost extended periods of classroom instruction and continue to face challenges that make traditional exam preparation difficult.

“Well, generally speaking, I think it’s a way of trying to, for want of another word, level the playing field for those students who would have been adversely affected by the hurricane and are still being affected by the hurricane in terms of having been out of school for an extended period of time and would need now to…catch up,” Bisnott-Hemmings said.

She noted that the impact of Hurricane Melissa differs significantly from previous disruptions such as COVID-19, particularly because many communities still remain without electricity.

“It’s a little different from COVID; at least with COVID we had electricity at the time. A lot of these people are still without electricity, so in terms of the modality to do online as or even to do WhatsApp, it’s still challenging because most of them don’t have electricity to work with and even the schools that have reopened are using generators to do what needs to be done and that’s something that can’t be sustained for too long either,” she said.

Under the revised PEP arrangements, grade six students will now sit only three assessments – the Ability Test, the Mathematics Curriculum-Based Test (with numeracy items), and the Language Arts Curriculum-Based Test (with literacy items). Science and social studies have been removed from external assessment this year.

At grade five, students will complete two performance tasks only — mathematics and language arts — while at grade four, students will sit a literacy test and a numeracy test.

The ministry has said the changes are intended to maintain the integrity of national assessments while responding to learning disruption, trauma, and uneven school reopening following the hurricane.

Bisnott-Hemmings welcomed the removal of science and social studies from national assessment this year, saying it significantly reduces the academic load students must carry in a shortened preparation period ahead of the April examinations.

“But for us, it’s still a part of our programme and we will do our internal assessment but it lessens the workload quite a lot because it’s a lot of information to have under the belt to understand and to work with. Social studies, in particular, and science,” she said.

She added that the adjustment makes preparation more realistic.

“So to me it will ease the pressure in terms of preparation wise because we’re talking about an exam that is going to be done in April, at the end of April. So we’re looking at another four months. So you’d want to make sure that what you are going to be trying to cover within the four months is manageable for all.”

However, despite supporting the changes, Bisnott-Hemmings said students in western parishes may still face disadvantages due to ongoing electricity shortages that limit after-school study and revision, suggesting that schools may need to provide additional on-campus support.

“But I guess we have to get creative in the ways in which we can support that. Probably have them at school a little longer, doing that at school before they get home, so that when they get home that doesn’t become a challenge,” she said.

In the meantime, Alia Harris, vice-principal of McAuley Primary School in Spanish Town, St Catherine, also welcomed the revised PEP framework, saying it reflects what educators have long advocated for.

She acknowledged that while the curriculum is usually integrated, the crisis required flexibility.

“We’re not really thinking of it as anything detrimental. It’s better for what is happening now…and with the crisis we needed something. If I could question it, I would just hope that everybody really and truly will make use of the opportunity,” she said.

She added that teachers and students have responded positively to the changes, noting that the move is welcomed by everyone at her institution.

“There is nothing bad that can come out of this, because this is what we have been asking for and if you look back at the exams it is a lot for grade six [students] and they are children, they are 12 and 13 years old you know, so it is a welcome change and we don’t have a problem with it,” Harris expressed.