GSAT: Eight students sit exam in hospitals on first day

The Ministry of Education says day one of the sitting of the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) went relatively smooth.

The exams are being held in 1,090 centres across the island.

A total of 39,129 students were registered to sit the examination and students are sitting the Mathematics and Social Studies papers today.

The ministry says special accommodations were made for 394 students with special needs, of these 26 were large print for children with visual problems, prompter, preferential seating, extra time, scribe, readers and writers to name a few.

Additionally, it says eight students sat the examination in hospital – Spanish Town Hospital and Bustamante Hospital for children.

All special needs students were given extra time.

Meanwhile, Minister of Education, Ruel Reid, has said that this year’s GSAT format remains the same with only a few changes being made to Social Studies.

Speaking at the Mona Primary School this morning, Reid said that the old curriculum focused on a wide range of global issues.

However, he said the new format is expected to narrow in on questions directly related to Jamaica and to an extent, the Caribbean region.

He said he expects the exams to proceed smoothly throughout today and tomorrow.

According to him, there have been no significant challenges leading up to the exams.