SEA and our prestige school obsession

2026-03-27 - 01:33

So, the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) is now over and students can breathe again. Well, at least for the next two to three months, until the stress of getting their results. We know that SEA has become one of the most stressful parts of our education system process in T&T and we can admit that the exam needs restructuring. But we also need to go deeper into the issue and examine how we have created an education system in which too many parents believe that only a handful of secondary schools can offer a good future for their children. What we really need is not to keep glorifying prestige schools, but to do the serious work of raising standards across the system so that parents can feel confident about the quality of education in every school, all the “non-prestige” ones, because every child has a right to a good education. First, let us understand why there is such a high demand for prestige schools. I mean, this obsession did not come from nowhere, just like that! Yes, for many parents there is bragging rights and social status attached to the school a child attends. But for many, the issue is much deeper than that. They see prestige schools as safer, better disciplined and more academically stable. They believe teachers work harder, extra-curricular opportunities are greater, and their children will be surrounded by peers whose families are similarly invested in education. At the end of the day, many parents simply want to know that their children are in a school where they can be safe, settled and given a proper education. They want peace of mind. But we also need to be honest with ourselves about prestige schools. Too often, we speak about them as though they are untouched by the problems affecting the wider education system, and that is simply not true. Bullying exists. Peer pressure exists. Students in those institutions also deal with stress, anxiety, unhealthy competition and the burden of high expectations. Many still depend on extra lessons outside the classroom, which tells us that even in these schools, academic success is not always being produced by the school alone. There are also issues of indiscipline, teacher inconsistency, absenteeism and students who are struggling emotionally or academically in silence. In some cases, there is violence as well. These schools may have stronger traditions, better public perception and better systems for managing their problems, but the problems are still there. The difference is that we are often more willing to excuse or overlook them when a school has a prestigious name. The real injustice is that the quality of education across the system is far too uneven. Parents should not feel that their child’s entire future depends on gaining access to specific secondary schools. That is not how a fair education system should work. A good education system should provide strong leadership, quality teaching, safety, decent infrastructure and meaningful opportunities in every school, not just in the prestigious ones. When too many schools are seen as third-choice or last-resort options, that is not simply a perception problem. It is a sign that we have allowed inequality to become normal. And that is a big reason why there is so much pressure around SEA. For many parents, the fear that their children will end up in a school where they do not have a fair chance to succeed is very real. So now, we need to stop talking about these schools as though they cannot improve and start doing the real work to bring them up to standard. It means better leadership and better management. It means supporting teachers properly and improving morale. It means acknowledging that teacher absenteeism, lateness and delinquency cannot continue to be ignored. It means dealing seriously with bullying, school violence and indiscipline, because children cannot learn well in places where they feel unsafe or unsettled. The Ministry of Education has put policies and systems in place to address some of these issues, and that is a start, but it cannot stop there. The work has to continue, and it has to be enforced consistently if parents are going to regain confidence in these schools. Infrastructure and resources also have to improve, and the quality of teaching must be strengthened. Just as importantly, we have to build pride, identity and a stronger school culture, so that students do not enter a school already feeling that they have been sent somewhere lesser, that they are failures. We cannot keep telling children that they are valuable, capable and full of potential, while maintaining a system that makes so many of them feel that their future depends on one exam and one school label. SEA pressure will remain as long as parents believe that only some schools are good enough. If we truly want to reduce that pressure, then we have to confront the deeper unfairness within the system. No 11-year-old should feel that one set of results will determine their worth or define their future, and no parent should feel that their child’s chances in life depend on access to a small group of schools. Children can succeed in many different ways, but they need schools that give them a fair chance to do so. Until quality education is no longer treated as something reserved for the fortunate few, SEA pressure will remain a symptom of a much deeper inequality.