KINGSTON, Jamaica – Preparations for the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) are far advanced, according to Minister of Education and Youth, Fayval Williams.

Grade-six students are scheduled to sit the Ability Test on February 16; Performance Tasks in Language Arts on March 22 and Mathematics on March 23; and the Curriculum-based Test in Language Arts and Science on April 26, and Mathematics and Social Studies, on April 27.

Williams, in her back-to-school message on Sunday, said that engagement with the National Standards Curriculum is an important part of the process in getting students ready for the assessment.

“The curriculum-based tests and the performance tasks require that students use the knowledge, skills and concepts, to which they should have been exposed, to be adequately prepared for these tests,” she noted

The education minister said that the PEP online portal remains an invaluable support resource for students.

The site can be accessed by logging on at https://moey.gov.jm/primary-exit-profile-pep/.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry has been moving forward in the implementation of the education transformation initiatives.

“We are committed to continue engaging in dialogue with our school communities, our key stakeholders and the wider public through a variety of communication channels to get support for the continuing transformation of the education sector,” Williams said.

She said that the ministry will also continue to focus on implementing the recommendations of the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission (JETC).

The Professor Orlando Patterson-chaired Commission, in its 2021 report put forward recommendations aimed at establishing a comprehensive strategy to improve student performance and educational productivity across the sector.

Already, gains have been made in the areas of governance, administration leadership and legislation; early-childhood education; teaching curriculum, and teacher training; tertiary education, and infrastructure and technology.