June 22 is the date set for next year’s Barbados Secondary Schools’ Entrance Examination (BSSEE).
This announcement came from Education Minister, Santia Bradshaw, who said the decision on the particular date came about after consultations with key stakeholders, which included Class 4 teachers at schools island-wide.
She spoke at yesterday’s press conference at the Education Ministry where she shared the proposal for Terms 2 and 3 for the academic year 2020-2021.
“We have also recognised that the date for the 11-Plus exam, which was traditionally scheduled in May, is perhaps not going to be practical for persons to be able to sit that exam on that date, given the amount of time that has been lost and so a decision has been taken by the Ministry to allow the moving of the date until the June 22nd, 2021.”
She added, “It has arisen out of several representations by teachers indicating a better level of comfort if they had the additional time to complete the syllabus and also a preference that we didn’t move it until July, which is obviously in the high peak of their vacation, as would have happened last year. So at this point, the Common Entrance Examination is now going to be scheduled for June 22nd and I hope that parents, teachers and certainly our students breathe a sigh of relief over the course of the next few days and certainly the coming weeks and months as it relates to their preparation for that particular examination.”
During the past academic year, the date for the Common Entrance Examination was slated for May 5. This however was postponed until July 14 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (MG)