Senator Marlon Morgan, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, is describing the results of the 2026 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) as “quite encouraging”, particularly in western Jamaica, which suffered the most severe impact from Hurricane Melissa at the end of last year.Morgan, who was speaking yesterday during the Ministry of Education’s Principals Back to School Conference in Hanover, joined Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon, acting Chief Education Officer Terry-Ann Thomas-Gayle, and several principals in rejecting a claim by Opposition Spokesman on Education Damion Crawford that the examinations were “watered down”.“There are those who, in an uninformed and misguided way, would have thought that, because of the adjustments that were made vis-a-vis Hurricane Melissa, that what we came away with for this 2026 edition of PEP was somehow a watered-down version of the assessment,” said Morgan. “Nothing could be further from the truth in that regard.”According to Morgan, the assessment was reviewed by appropriate psychometricians and deemed fit for purpose, rigorous, credible and reliable, while meeting all key assessment imperatives.“What we have in terms of PEP, appropriately underpinned by the National Standards Curriculum, seeks to prioritise a simulation and out-turn in terms of student performance, that will serve our students well, as they navigate further in the education system and go on to post-secondary engagement,” he said, describing the PEP as the envy of Jamaica’s peers across the region.Morgan also argued that what has now happened with the PEP examinations is precisely what was envisaged when it was developed several years ago – to develop a profile of young learners.“As stakeholders in education, you can rest assured that the 2026 sitting of the exam was in no way watered down and, as many of you who would have eye-balled the exams for yourself can attest, the exam was indeed challenging and competitive,” he said.Positive narrativeIn his criticism of the examinations, Crawford accused the Ministry of Education of manipulating statistics to craft a positive narrative around the country’s educational recovery following Hurricane Melissa.However, in defending the execution of the PEP, Morgan said the students who sat the examinations did well and deserved commendations, particularly under the circumstances and with the impact of Hurricane Melissa factored into the equation.He also pointed out that many educational institutions did not regain electricity in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, adding to the challenges the students would have faced. He noted that some schools are still suffering from a lack of key enabling infrastructure.“So, it gives you a sense as to how all of you as school leaders, teachers, parents and the children would have acquitted yourselves in relation to the 2026 staging of the Primary Exit Profile, and the assessment in that regard, and you must applaud yourselves, because the results are encouraging,” he said.In relation to western Jamaica, Morgan said there was no noticeable fall-off in the performance of students.He also stated that, in recent weeks, a contract had been signed for the construction of the nation’s first of six Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) schools, which will be built in Bernard Lodge, St Catherine.“I must impress upon all of you as stakeholders, at the primary- and even more so at the high-school level, though your school may not be dubbed a STEM academy, you should tailor your teaching and learning timetabling in such a way as to ensure that the emphasis being placed on STEM is incorporated and manifestly reflected in the engagement provided at your school,” he said.editorial@gleanerjm.com