By MIRANDA LA ROSE Thursday, June 28 2012

The results of this year’s Secondary Education Assessment will be released on July 5, Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said yesterday

Speaking at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, where he was attending the launch of a new book titled Profiles — Heroes, Pioneers, Role Models of Trinidad and Tobago, Gopeesingh told Newsday that “the School’s Supervision Department has informed me that the results would be released on July 5.” This is in keeping with his announcement at a post-Cabinet press briefing last week that the results would be available by the end of the first week in July.

Some 17,900 Standard Five students wrote the SEA on May 10. The SEA examination date was pushed back from March to May for the first time this year.

According to acting Chief Education Officer, Harrilal Seecharan, pushing back the exams by some two months would have given weaker students the opportunity to catch up on studies, and to allow them a full term in school. Normally, children would be sent home after they sat the exams in March in previous years.

From the new academic year, the Ministry of Education is proposing to introduce a Continuous Assessment Component to the SEA.

This introduction will mean that Standard Five students writing the SEA next year will be assessed in a number of new areas, including agriculture, physical education and the performing arts.