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request. She stated that CXC was cutting back on expenditure and she did not see
them anytime soon expanding the examination to include composition writing.

2. Mrs. Oeslyn Jemmotte opined that with the absence of composition writing from the
CPEA exams the levelling test was essential to place students correctly at the
Montserrat Secondary School. Mrs. Claudia Skerritt queried whether the levelling
tests could be done before the close of the academic year as recommended in the
2016 reports. Mrs. Cherlyn Hogan, principal of the Montserrat Secondary School,
pointed out that to adhere to this would require the grade six students to write three
examinations at the end of term 3 – CPEA, Levelling and End of Term. She further
pointed out that she could not accommodate the levelling tests at this time because it
would be additional burden on the subject teachers who would have to mark the
papers along with their regular class examinations, and the MSS’ exams were her
priority.

Members of the Committee queried whether the levelling test could replace the end of
term class tests for grade six? However, Mrs. Hogan stated that there would be no
guarantee that the levelling results would be available any earlier. She was in favour
of a September timetable for the levelling tests.

Again, Members of the Committee wanted to know the purpose of the levelling tests,
a question that has been posed and deliberated for the past three years. Members
heard that the levelling tests provided a baseline for the children, what they could do,
which in turn enabled the school to determine the value added to the students’
learning; to get students to level six by third form which in turn would allow them to
past five or more CSEC subjects.

The Chairman reminded the members of the Committee that the levelling issue has
been extensively addressed three years in succession, and that the recommendations
should be turned over to the school manager for her consideration, who would then
have the responsibility for the decisions she made.

Reports on the 2017 CPEA Examinations

Miss Denelta Weekes, headteacher for the Look Out Primary School (Centre 117003), reported
that her school realized significant improvement in the students’ performance. Members heard it
was the school’s best output since the inception of the CPEA, that for the first time, it featured in
the top ten nationally with two students, and that it achieved the highest minimum score, a plus
for the school. She was hopeful that the school would continue to improve now that the CPEA
process was better understood, and the class teacher given the requisite support moving forward.