Choosing Schools for the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination: Ministry of Education Encourages Parents to Prioritize Child's Needs over Prestige

With the date for this year’s Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (BSSEE) – the 11-Plus or Common Entrance Exam – set for May 7, the Ministry of Education has urged parents and guardians to put their children’s priorities over a school’s prestige when selecting schools.

Senior Education Officer with responsibility for Examinations Glyne Price has been delivering advice on the exam and how to choose a school as the ministry began a series of town hall meetings on the exam that has been earmarked for abolition.

Many parents were seeking “the best of both worlds” and would often select what they consider the top four public schools in Barbados, rather than the school that best suits their child, he told Barbados TODAY on the sidelines of the first town hall meeting at The Lester Vaughan School on Tuesday evening.

“You see you can only select so many schools and you find that over the years, parents have created a kind of a hierarchy,” Price said. “Within that hierarchy, if you were to carry out a survey, you’ll probably find that like maybe 80 per cent of the parents would say to you that the top four in Barbados [are] Harrison College, Queen’s College, Combermere and St Michael, and not necessarily in that order. Nearly all of the parents would like their children to go to one of those four schools, which is not possible.”

Price stressed the importance of parents understanding the allocation process and making informed decisions for their children’s education based on their location.

He said that owing to partial zoning, provisions are made for parents to have access to any of the 21 secondary schools regardless of where they live.

Schools are assigned according to three zones.

“If you are selecting a school outside of the zone, then that school must be placed at number one or number two on the form. All the other schools that you sent must come from within your zone. If it is a case where you are satisfied with all the schools in your zone, then it’s not a problem,” the ministry official explained, noting that the problem would arise once schools are picked outside students’ zones.

The BSSEE is a crucial step in determining which secondary school will be assigned according to the parent’s location and the child’s entry marks.

The four-hour exam, set for the first Tuesday in May, begins at 9 a.m. with an essay which has been allotted 30 minutes. The English paper is set for 9:40 a.m. to 11 a.m., followed by the Mathematics paper from 11:40 a.m. to 12:55 pm.

On Saturday, the BSSEE town hall meetings move to Christ Church Foundation School, Church Hill and the Alexandra School, Queen’s Street, St Peter.

Next week, the meetings will be held on Tuesday at Bay Primary School, Bayville, St Michael, and A. Dacosta Edwards Primary School, Belleplaine, St Andrew; Saturday, January 20, at St George Primary School, Constant, and Princess Margaret Secondary School, Six Roads.

The following Tuesday, the meetings will be hosted at Combermere School, Waterford and West Terrace Primary School, St James followed on Saturday at Daryll Jordan Secondary School, Trents, St Lucy, and Grantley Adams Memorial School, Blackman’s, St Joseph.

The series of town hall meetings will conclude on Tuesday, January 30, at Deighton Griffith School, Kingsland, Christ Church, and The St Michael School, Martindales Road.

All meetings begin at 5:30 p.m.

Parents and guardians are being guided on how to complete an online registration form for school choice and will learn more about the process of seeking a deferral and making special requests.

(RG)