EDITORIAL: 11 Plus: yay or nay?

When COVID-19 began to affect various countries across the world in early 2020, no one could have imagined that the little known virus would inflict untold damage on the entire world.

The health pandemic did not just affect the health and well-being of people, but it pushed many economies to the brink and even created challenges in education, as worldwide, teachers and students were forced to embrace technology and go online. Unfortunately some students suffered because of a lack of access to the internet and the devices required to participate in the virtual classroom. We certainly saw that here in Barbados over the course of 2020 and even this year, despite efforts by Government and the private sector to assist students and teachers alike in getting access to the requisite resources.

While the school year that ended in the first half of 2020 was a difficult one, the children proved to be resilient, and that resilience was tested even more in the last school year. This last year has been particularly tough on students, especially those who were sitting exit exams such as the 11 Plus and the CAPE and CSEC Exams from the Caribbean Examinations Council. For months there was back and forth about what would obtain in relation to those exams, with the final decision being that we would basically move forward as usual.

As it relates to the 11 Plus, some persons no doubt hoped that the Government would follow through with its plan to bring that exam to an end, given that in early 2020 it was announced that that exam’s days were numbered. It is unfortunate that the Ministry of Education did not take the opportunity to come up with options to put to the public regarding what could replace the Common Entrance, as the holding pattern that Class 4 students, their teachers and parents endured this year, waiting to hear if and when the 11 Plus would be held, put them under undue pressure.

This has indeed been a difficult school year for those students. Those Class 4 students had both their Class 3 and Class 4 years disrupted by the pandemic. Many probably did not get to cover the entire syllabus and the scores from the assessments were not good. The exam was pushed back, and only yesterday were most of those students able to put the exam behind them. Some chose to defer until next year and reports are that others, affected by COVID, will sit at a later date.

Now it will be sometime before the results are back and the students are allocated to the various secondary schools, but whatever the outcome, these students must be commended for putting in the work in the most difficult of circumstances, and putting their best foot forward.

While the Common Entrance was staged again this year, one has to ask if in this COVID-19 environment, it was the wisest choice. Often a subject for debate is whether the exam is serving a useful purpose, and if not, if it should be overhauled to better cater to the children of today. If the answer to the latter is yes, then we need to find a solution to determine how students will be assigned to secondary schools, to give them the best opportunity to excel.

We must not rush to come up with a solution, but it is also unwise to drag our feet as we seek to determine the way forward. There will no doubt be some opposition to abolishing the 11 Plus, as we well know that there are inherent prejudices in the society, spurred on by that exam. The one-shot exam pinpoints the so-called “bright” students and they are the ones who get the better opportunities. But our children need equal opportunities and steps must be taken, sooner rather than later, to make that a reality.