New Primary Grade Assessment Framework For Eastern Caribbean Schools

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, February 21, 2019 (CMC) – Parents and students in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) are being urged to get fully acquainted with the new primary grade assessment framework, developed by the Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).

“For a long time there have been calls for some sort of standardization. Many teachers are not sure about the scope, where they should end, when it comes to the curriculum, so they have been very receptive when it comes to the standards, because it guides them, as to what the basic learning targets are, that students should have, when they leave a grade,” said Selma Biscette, Curriculum Officer for Social Science, following a meeting between representatives of the Ministry of Education, here, and OECS Secretariat.

The meeting served to introduce the OECS Primary Grades Assessment Framework, which provides an outline of approaches to assessment, from grades Kindergarten to 6, which caters to the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes that are critical for nurturing students.

Biscette said the standards would ensure an equal assessment system, across the OECS.

“We are encouraging teachers to let the students know that these are the benchmarks, so that students and parents will now have a guide, as to what the child should know.”

The OECS groups the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts-Nevis, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands.

The sub-regional countries have received an Education Plan Development Grant from the Global Partner for Education, providing technical assistance for finalizing the development of the education quality framework.