KINGSTON, Jamaica — In a significant policy shift, Jamaica’s Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information has unveiled comprehensive modifications to both the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) administration framework and the National Standards Curriculum. These strategic adjustments directly address educational disruptions caused by Hurricane Melissa’s devastating passage last October.
Acting Chief Education Officer Terry-Ann Thomas-Gayle formally announced these developments during Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister. The reforms represent a structured response to maintain educational continuity while ensuring academic standards remain intact.
The ministry has executed substantial revisions to learning objectives across multiple grade levels. For Language Arts at the grade-six level, educational targets have been strategically reduced from 138 to 90 core objectives. Similarly, mathematics objectives for grade four have been condensed from 124 to 48 essential competencies. These refined focus areas represent the fundamental knowledge requirements for student progression.
Thomas-Gayle emphasized that these curricular modifications preserve educational integrity: “I want to reassure the public that condensing to a smaller number of objectives, the students will not be at a loss. We have identified the most essential learning outcomes that students must achieve to advance successfully.”
The ministry has distributed revised curriculum materials through both hard copies to hurricane-affected regions and electronic versions to other parishes, ensuring nationwide access to updated educational resources.
Concurrently, the ministry has finalized PEP examination components following extensive stakeholder consultations. Grade-six students will undertake ability testing (40 multiple-choice items), mathematics curriculum-based testing (60 items), and Language Arts curriculum-based testing (60 items) between April 29-30, 2026. Grade-five assessments will focus exclusively on performance tasks featuring four to six open-ended questions in Language Arts and mathematics, scheduled for June 10, 2026. Grade-four literacy and numeracy testing will occur on June 24, 2026.
Notably, the placement mechanism for students advancing to high school remains unchanged, incorporating performance metrics from grade-four (2024), grade-five (2025), and grade-six (2026) PEP components. However, a new placement system will govern grade-nine transitions following the suspension of the 2026 grade-nine achievement test.