As thousands of Standard Five students across Trinidad and Tobago wait for the Ministry of Education to reveal where they will spend the next stage of their educational journey, child psychologist Tyneille Graham had a bit of advice for their parents.

“Please remember that children are incredibly sensitive to the emotional environment that surrounds them. So if you’re pacing up and down and you’re nervous and all you’re talking about is the exam and the results and you better pass for this school and so on and so forth, all you’re doing is increasing the anxiety in the children. So I am just going to ask parents to have the day as normal as possible.”

Ms. Graham noted that many students may exhibit signs of anxiety, including sleeplessness, tummy aches and being quieter than usual.