While a date for the Secondary Entrance Assessment examinations has not yet been announced, the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) says it is against any proposal for the exam to take place in August, as  all students have not been given equal time to prepare outside of classes.

In a statement, TTUTA said “the emergency remote teaching and learning activities which have been on-going for the past weeks is part of an ad-hoc mitigation strategy. It cannot be presumed that all students had the ability to be appropriately engaged.”

It went on to add that all students must be given an equal opportunity at success. “It is absolutely unfair and inhumane to host the SEA during the month of August, when some students would not be in a state of readiness to comfortably and confidently do the examinations. The SEA by nature is competitive,” it said.

The Association also taken issue with the fact that an August exam would mean that principals and teachers will be expected to supervise during the vacation period.

Over the weekend, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley said a date for the exam should be announced before the end of this week.