The Ministry of Education has announced that 19,198 students will sit the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam on March 31.

At a press conference at the ministry in Port of Spain on Monday, director of the Division of Educational Research and Evaluation (CERE) Mervyn Sambucharan said 9,904 boys and 9,294 girls will sit the exam at 8.30 am on Thursday.

He said 986 registered candidates will sit it in Tobago and the other 18,212 in Trinidad.

Sambucharan said preparation for the exam began in September 2021.

“In leading up to Thursday’s assessment, the ministry has delivered principal packages comprising of admission slips (and) student concession approvals.”

He said 436 students have been granted approvals in Trinidad and four in Tobago. Student concessions are granted to candidates with special needs so that they cancomfortably access exam materials and resources on the day of the exam.

Sambucharan said the 552 centres in the eight districts – seven in Trinidad and the eighth in Tobago – will be managed by school supervisors, and 3,400 teachers and principals have been trained to support the ministry during the invigilation.

“Each essay invigilation team will be required to meet tomorrow at 8.30 at their assigned examination centre. It is a dress rehearsal for all players to be mindful of their assignments, and all procedures and practice, especially for students with concessions.”

He said the exam will be three hours and 20 minutes long and will comprise an essay component, English language arts, writing, maths, and English language arts: grammar mechanics.

Last year, primary school students sat the exam on July 1, after it was postponed by nearly a month owing to concerns about the increasing number of covid19 cases, which began in March.

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