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UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 5 MAY 2019
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Students wrote the Secondary Entrance Assessment
(SEA) last month,
as usual amid an atmosphere of hope,
dread and destiny.
The standard Government test assigns pupils to
secondary school places in a starkly inequitable system:
“prestige” schools with a tradition of achievement, alumni
support networks and (often) religious tradition, and State-
run institutions that lack basic resources and at times seem
to mirror society’s worst social ills.
The annual test, often the subject of contention,
was the subject of discussion on March 29, “Among the
SEA believers: The Price We Must Pay”, the professorial
inaugural lecture of Jerome De Lisle, Professor of Education
Leadership.
Parents and educators filled the School of Education
Auditorium to capacity to hear Professor De Lisle’s findings
on the SEA. Attendees looking for answers went away with
enlightening data – and plenty to ponder.
De Lisle stressed the importance of good data, noting
that international agencies often find “there isn’t enough
information” on education in Trinidad and Tobago.
He painted a sobering picture of the SEA landscape:
inherent systemic inequities. He said the passing criteria
varies by district, with higher cut-off scores in rural
districts; the problem of “false positives and negatives,”
where scores do not reflect the true abilities of candidates;
and, the “shadow education system” of extra lessons for
those who are able to afford it.
He felt the exam was “a very weak tool” for assessing
students, and asked “Can it tell you what you want it to
tell you?”
He asked whether it was right to subject children
to such existential pressure, facing a test with often life-
changing consequences: “Why do that to an 11-year-old?”
He likened the exam to an obstacle, asking, “is this
education, really? Putting up barriers for the children?”
Dr De Lisle earned his PhD (Education) fromTheUWI
and has worked on several IDB-funded consultancies on
testing and reform for the Ministry of Education. He has
worked in measurement and evaluation at the Faculty of
Medical Sciences, and is well regarded internationally for his
research. He has also published several qualitative studies
and received an award from the American Educational
Research Association this past April.
At the lecture, De Lisle gave a multimedia presentation
with graphs and images illustrating his points.
One slide showed a child’s drawing, expressing
their feelings on the test. In it, a humiliated pupil faces
a teacher whose hand is a ruler (symbolising the threat
of punishment). It was captioned: “I felt that SEA was
killing, as there was nothing I can do to get out of it.” In the
background, other children laughed or expressed a similar
sense of fear and hopelessness.
De Lisle said students “experience stress but many do
not communicate”. He encouraged parents to encourage
them to “share their emotions” and suggested they keep
journals.
He said there were many “myths” around the exam
culture, and that these “myths become policy”.
He said we believe valorised schools are better, that
prayer in these schools plays a role. We believe that certain
students deserve to attend vilified schools: “What happens
when teachers believe that if you pass for a ‘Junior Sec’ you
are not bright?” he asked.
Professor Jerome De Lisle
PHOTOS: ANEEL KARIM
The lecture was attended by a passionate and enthusiastic audience.
Putting SEA to the Test
B Y G I L L I A N M O O R E
Gillian Moore is a writer, editor and singer-songwriter.
“Are we demonising students who go to these schools?”
He described the “elitist worldview” that causes us to
prize academic intelligence above other kinds of aptitudes:
“Where is tehnical-vocational education?”
In one study cited, 6,000 candidates got the same
passing mark, “but we don’t have 6,000 spaces” in better
schools.
De Lisle’s research showed no correlation between
socioeconomic status and academic performance, but a
strong link between wealth and placement in valorised
schools – with poverty concentrated in low achievement
schools.
“Do we trust the system? Is the system blind?”
His suggested countermeasures included making
the exam harder in order to spread out scores; more
focus on developing “grit and resilience” in students;
pumping resources into failing schools to make “every
school a winner”; more classroom-based assessment; and,
emphasising “authentic learning” rather than rote learning.
But De Lisle cautioned there is no quick fix. “Even if
we tinker with the SEA, expectations, practices and beliefs
may remain.” He cited Hong Kong, which removed 11-
Plus in the 1970s. “People are still exam focused,” but now,
classroom assessment is emphasised.
“People just love exams.”
“He asked whether
it was right to
subject children
to such existential
pressure, facing
a test with often
life-changing
consequences:
‘Why do that to an
11-year-old?’”
