As the annual Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examination (BSSEE), widely known as the 11-plus common entrance test, approaches, a sharp uptick in applications for special examination accommodations has reignited longstanding concerns over systemic gaps in supporting students with learning differences. Advocates and education specialists warn that persistent stigma around neurodiversity and disability, paired with delayed formal assessments, continues to leave hundreds of vulnerable pupils without the critical support they need long before they sit for this high-stakes secondary school placement exam.
New data released by the Ministry of Education shows 246 requests for special consideration have been filed for 2026’s test, a 34% jump from 183 requests logged in 2025 and 180 recorded in 2024. The accommodations requested cover a range of adjustments designed to level the playing field for students with learning disabilities, including extra testing time, scribes for students with motor impairments, large-format question papers, on-site readers, and full exemptions for certain exam components. While education experts acknowledge the rise in requests signals growing public awareness of learning needs across the island, they emphasize the trend also exposes a critical flaw: thousands more children remain undiagnosed and unsupported throughout their primary school years.
Senator Janelle Odle, speaking to local outlet Barbados TODAY, explained that deep-rooted social stigma still discourages many Barbadian parents from pursuing early assessments for their children. “The core question we have to confront right now is: are children with disabilities getting any support before they even reach the 11-plus?” Odle noted. “We are still stuck in a phase where many parents fear disclosing their child’s disability because of the stigma attached to it. As a result, countless kids move through the education system without accommodations, and they simply fall through the cracks.” Odle has long pushed for expanded universal screening for learning needs in primary schools, arguing that early identification opens the door to earlier, more effective intervention that dramatically improves long-term academic and social outcomes for students.
Hazeain Harding-King, principal of the Caribbean Mind Institute (CMI), echoed these concerns, noting that while public awareness of learning disabilities has improved significantly over the past two decades, parental reluctance to pursue formal testing remains a major barrier. “People are far more aware of the challenges neurodivergent children face today than they were 10, 15 or 20 years ago,” Harding-King explained. “Overall, society is a good deal less judgmental than it used to be. But even with these gains in awareness, many parents still hold back from getting their children tested. Often, this comes down to simple denial — it’s human nature to avoid receiving what feels like bad news about your child.”
Delaying assessments and subsequent intervention, Harding-King stressed, causes irreversible harm to children’s academic progress and well-being. “Putting off support is never in a child’s best interest. Parents have to put their child’s needs ahead of their own discomfort or concerns about how a diagnosis will reflect on them. At the end of the day, the child is the one who has to navigate these challenges every single day, and they bear the brunt of delayed support.”
Harding-King added that once a child completes a formal diagnostic assessment, the Ministry of Education is typically willing to approve requested accommodations, as long as families can provide documented evidence of a learning need from a qualified professional. The real barriers, she argued, come long before the exam accommodation application process — and in the procedural hurdles that low-income families face. “Our current system forces families to jump through endless hoops just to get basic accommodations for kids already diagnosed with conditions like autism, ADHD, or dyslexia,” she noted. “Many low-income parents simply cannot afford to pay a private psychologist for a formal assessment to prove their child needs extra time. There is no reason these students shouldn’t automatically qualify for accommodations and extra resources based on their existing diagnoses.”
Harding-King also questioned the fundamental structure of the 11-plus exam, arguing that its strict time limits inherently disadvantage students with processing differences. “Right now, we don’t have an alternative exam for students with special needs, so every child has to sit the same test. At the very minimum, we should give all students with documented learning needs extra time. It’s not that these kids don’t know the material — they just need more time to process questions and put their answers down. That’s the only disadvantage they face,” she said. “We also have to ask what this exam is actually measuring: are we testing what students know, or just how fast they can work?”
For her part, Senator Odle called for systemic changes beyond exam accommodations, including expanded access to assistive technology across all Barbadian primary schools, regardless of student population. “We need more assistive technology integrated everywhere in the education system,” she said. “While some high-end tools are expensive, there are many low-cost devices we could roll out right now to support both students and teachers, to help them meet diverse learning needs.” Odle specifically highlighted the benefits of digital learning materials, noting that adjustable-format e-books allow students with visual impairments or dyslexia to modify text size, contrast, and use text-to-speech tools to access content independently. She also added that more teacher aides are desperately needed in mainstream classrooms to support students with extra needs, explaining that one-on-one assistance can make a world of difference for students with disabilities. “From my experience, students with disabilities in mainstream schools struggle to keep up when they don’t have targeted support,” Odle said. “A teacher aide can step in to explain diagrams for visually impaired or blind students, or break down instructions for students who need extra support, that makes all the difference in helping them keep up with their peers.”
The rising number of special accommodation requests has put the issue of learning needs support back at the forefront of education policy debate in Barbados, with advocates pressing the government to move forward with expanded early screening and reduced barriers to support for vulnerable students.