Teachers, students not ready for PEP, says new JTA boss

Dr Garth Anderson, the newly installed president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), has indicated that the nation’s teachers and students are not ready for the new Primary Exit Profile (PEP), which is slated to replace the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).

"The implementation of the PEP element of the National Standards Curriculum is on track to fail. PEP remains a mystery, and teachers, students, and parents are still anxious even after several workshops have been hosted and the publication of newspaper articles which attempted to allay our fears," said Anderson in his presidential address at the JTA's 54th annual conference in Montego Bay, St James on Monday night.

According to Anderson, teachers, who have been tasked to implement the PEP curriculum, have said that they are not ready to implement it.

"The teachers who are the implementers of the curriculum have been indicating that they are not ready to deliver the curriculum,” stated Anderson.

“The mock tests that went some weeks ago, the Fish Tank question and the Kennel question, have only served to frustrate the system, and the test clearly did not cater to the different learning styles and abilities of the students."

Within recent weeks, several school principals have been voicing concerns about the implementation of the PEP examination, which is to replace GSAT beginning in September.

In June, students sat a national mock sitting of the PEP examination, which some educators said unveiled several shortcomings.

In light of the concerns, Anderson recommended that GSAT should remain in place while PEP is gradually implemented.

"We must carefully phase in the change and reduce the shock on the system. Consequently, the GSAT exam should continue as we grandfather in the new curriculum," said Anderson.

"Let us not fool ourselves, the training and implementation plan, to date, has not been effective.”

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