(EMU) –
St. Kitts, June 1, 2018: Representatives of the Curriculum Development Unit (CDU)addressed and enlightened teachers attending Zonal Meetings organized by the Ministry of Education on a number of initiatives for the 2018-2019 school year.
According to Mr James Morris Math Coordinator at the CDU as part of its 2017-2021 Education Sector Plan, the Ministry will implement a revised National Curriculum and Learning Assessment System that will allow students from Early Childhood to Post Secondary Education to develop a holistic set of competencies for the 21st Century .
“This undertaking requires thorough preparation, continuous collaboration and tremendous financial support.”
The Terms of reference for the consultancy have been published and proposals will be reviewed with a view to identifying the successful consultancy firm by August 2018.
The expected outcomes include a Draft National Curriculum Framework and Policy Document; A Draft National Curriculum Monitoring and Evaluation Framework that includes a Learning Assessment Framework; Templates for Curriculum Guides; Teacher Implementation Assessment Guides and Student Learning Guides for Compulsory Education and Capacity Development Workshops as well as follow up reports on the Workshops.
Currently the Interim Curriculum for Language Arts and Social Studies is in progress and the Interim Curriculum for Mathematics and Science and Technology are fully implemented.
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Additionally, Mr Morris announced that the Curriculum Development Unit has drafted a very organized system of marking for examinations to facilitate transparency and accuracy. While reminding teachers that the Test of Standards would only be administered to Grades 4 and 6 this year, he revealed details of a very structured marking system.
Teachers selected for invigilation would be dispatched to different schools in their zones. Secondary school teachers will assume the role of invigilation supervisors to oversee the process. Marking of objective type questions will be done by Kindergarten to Grade 2 teachers (Wednesday June 20th to Friday June 29th); Subjective Questions will be marked by Grades 4 and 6 teachers (July 2-6); and Grades 3 and 5 teachers will verify the accuracy of scores.
The dates for the Test of Standards examinations are Language Arts: Tuesday June 19, Math: Thursday June 21; Social Studies: Tuesday June 26 and Science and Technology: Wednesday June 27th. Scores will be released on Friday July 13. The Analysis of Scores and preparation of reports will take place Monday July 9 to Friday July 20. Schools receive their individual reports during the first week of September.
The CDU Math Coordinator took the opportunity to introduce three of his new counterparts at the CDU including Vicky Williams, Measurement and Testing Coordinator; Jonasay Hall-Herbert, Language Arts Coordinator and Cavelle Caines, Social Studies Co-ordinator.