Education Minister Orders End to MSS Leveling Test

The Ministry of Education has issued a directive to abolish the longstanding “leveling test” used to stream incoming students at the Montserrat Secondary School (MSS), citing its outdated and harmful effects.

“Education officers for secondary education have been advised again this week to abolish the leveling test at the Montserrat Secondary School,” said Dr. Ingrid Buffonge, the Minister of Education during a statement in the Legislative Assembly on Monday.

The minister said the education team now has one month to meet with teachers, parents, and education administrators to design a more appropriate system for streaming students.

“This order to abolish the leveling test follows on by a command by the Director of Education to abolish this test in January of this year, which has not yet been met by the school,” the minister said. “The leveling tests are fifteen-year-old tests that are no longer used in the rest of the world. It tends to stream students down into lower sets because the test often meets the students unprepared.”

“The Ministry of Education is also insisting that students at the Montserrat Secondary School who have not been performing as well as they should, who have been placed in lower sets, will receive the academic focus and lift that they require to show improved performance,” Dr. Buffonge added.

“It is essential that students of all levels of performance receive the support of the Ministry, which must do all it can to meet the needs of students at the Montserrat Secondary School.”

Homerooms Returning in 2025
Minister Buffonge also announced that by September 2025, students at MSS will once again be assigned homerooms which will be designated spaces where they can leave their bags, eat lunch, and feel a sense of belonging.

“At the secondary level, the classrooms belong to the teachers and the students … a near 300-strong population … migrate from class to class throughout the day. If there is no class, [they] eat lunch on the ground, as they have nowhere to belong,” she stated.

“We have made the decision to return to the position of students having homerooms, and these homerooms will be staffed to prevent behavioural problems and damage to property.”