The union representing secondary school teachers and a group of concerned parents have welcomed the Ministry of Education’s decision to delay the use of continuous assessment as the basis for secondary school placement.

During a ministerial statement on Friday, Minister of Education Transformation Chad Blackman announced that while the transition to continuous assessment as the determining factor for placement had been postponed, the framework would be introduced as part of primary school teaching and learning this academic year.

President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) Mary-Anne Redman said the union supported the postponement but maintained that continuous assessment was the way forward as an alternative to the traditional one-off, high-stakes examination.