THE MINISTRY of Education has said it will move to ensure that students who sat the Grade-Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in Region Three and were affected by a printing error on the mathematics paper, will not be placed at a disadvantage.
“The ministry truly regrets this challenge that was experienced in the 24 of the 794 schools in 1,184 centres. We assure all teachers and principals that everything will be done to ensure that the students are not placed in a disadvantageous position because of the omission of the questions,” the ministry said in a response to queries by The Gleaner on Monday.
The 24 schools are of a total of 83 in Region Three, which had questions missing from their mathematics paper. The students were instructed to write the examination notwithstanding.
“The Ministry of Education would like to express sincere thanks and appreciation to all who assisted in making the administration of GSAT 2013 a success. It must be noted that challenges were experienced in 24 of 83 schools in Region Three with the mathematics paper,” said the ministry on a release.
The ministry added: “This challenge was a result of a printing error on one page in the mathematics booklet, which resulted in 24 questions being omitted. Principals can be assured that all papers for the students affected will be individually assessed and the necessary procedures will be put in place to ensure that each student will receive a score based on their ability and performance on the test.”
According to the ministry, because of its policy, booklets are not opened and reviewed once they are received from the specially selected printers, who would have contractually guaranteed that all test papers have been printed based on the camera-ready copy submitted.
“We assure all teachers and principals that everything will be done to ensure that the students are not placed in disadvantageous position because of the omission of the questions.”
– Carl Gilchrist