Cudjoe misguided in comments about SEA exam: Gopeesingh

Two cabinet ministers on Thursday responded to Professor Selwyn Cudjoe who wrote last week that there had to be something bogus in the recent SEA examinations in which the three top students were from the same school - Chaguanas government primary - and that too many students from the same school placed in the first 100 in the exams.

Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh told reporters such results are not as unusual as Professor Cudjoe would have the population believe, adding that some schools consistently have outstanding results because of the dedication of principals, teachers, parents and students.

"This year alone, there were about 10 schools with at least five students getting more than 95% and these schools have shown repeatedly that they have been doing well," the minister stated. 

"I think he is misguided, I think the statisticians giving him that analysis misguided him. Not considering the type of system that we have in Trinidad and Tobago where there are particular teachers who focus on their students in particular schools and there are schools that do very, very well."

Communications Minister Dr Suruj Rambachan also had his say on the Cudjoe comments. 

Rambachan said with respect to the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) certain Secondary Schools continue to place at the top each year and gain more scholarships than others.

"At the international level, you are going to find certain Universities that keep standing out at the top in terms of performance and it is because of the methodologies, the quality of the teaching, methods of instruction and so on," Rambachan explained. 

"In addition to which in this country, you have to look at several other things...stability of the community, stability of the home from which the students come. So it is a number of interacting variables that contribute to this. 

"If you go back to that Chaguanas school, that used to be called Chaguanas North Government School and out of that school has come some of the most powerful and influential members of society, even today," he said.