TTUTA defends teachers, blames COVID for poor CESC scores

Senior Reporter

dareece.polo@guardian.co.tt

The T&T Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) blames the COVID-19 pandemic for the Caribbean’s poor performance in Mathematics in this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exam.

In an interview on CNC3’s The Morning Brew yesterday, before data was released from the Education Ministry on T&T’s performance in CSEC and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), TTUTA president Martin Lum Kin said other factors may have contributed to 64 per cent of the region’s students failing Math. He cited physical conditions, health and safety, as well as violence and indiscipline, which have negatively impacted both parents and teachers. He said while the pandemic is over, its long-term impact cannot be ignored.

“We have to take into consideration and be cognisant that this group of students would have been at a critical time in the lockdown phase, would have been going through COVID and the whole lockdown and the online engagement, which would have been something fairly new to most students. So, the learning loss would have been something that we have to consider. It would have contributed greatly to the performance,” Lum Kin said.

He added that a postmortem is necessary and expressed concern that TTUTA has not been very involved in that exercise spearheaded by the Education Ministry.

However, Lum Kin said an occasional drop in performance is not unusual.

“It’s not a matter to panic as well too, because you will get, and the trends have shown, that you will get fluctuations and there are particular instances and factors that may affect particular schools,” he said.

“We are not here to impede or to be resistant to whatever is the policy of the Ministry of Education and to taking education forward and the education sector. We are here to assist as best as possible.”

He agreed artificial intelligence (AI) and technology can be used in a positive way to improve students’ performance, but said research must be done to utilise it properly.

On the issue of cheating, Lum Kin said students are likely taking this route because of a lack of preparedness. He also believes they are falling victim to peer pressure and society’s expectations.

“There is a moral and ethical issue. We need to also have a level of preparedness and counselling before students go into these high-stakes examinations. So, from way back into SEA, we have to inculcate a certain level of honesty and that is within society as well. The school can reinforce it,” he said.

With the new school term set to begin on September 2, TTUTA expressed concerns about infrastructural issues.

“We would have some challenges, we wish our educators all the best. TTUTA is ready and willing and is standing by its educators and students. Mount Hope Secondary, in terms of infrastructure, baffles the mind and it’s the same with other schools. We wish education professionals all the best for the upcoming academic year and term.”

On Tuesday, when results were released, CXC Director of Operations Dr Nicole Manning said educators have had two years since the pandemic to get students back on track. She said despite some poor performances, grades can improve next year.

“You see a little decline? Usually, we see a little pick up afterwards,” she said.

The post TTUTA defends teachers, blames COVID for poor CESC scores first appeared on CNC3.