Every year, Trinidadian parents on numerous occasions show disapproval of the SEA exam. In many op-eds, they mutually express the exam to be unnecessarily stressful for their primary school children. Following parents, primary school children find the exam nerve-wracking and detrimental to their mental health (Harry, 2016). One parent’s child admitted to self-harm and held suicidal thoughts due to low confidence in their exam performance (Ramdeo, 2019). The SEA continues to be under attack for its psychological trauma on schoolchildren.

Substantively, the students’ and parents’ stance closely resembles Barbados’ reasoning for abolishing the exam. The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, expressed their government’s intention behind abolition: “Ten or eleven years old is too young to ask a child to determine what their life should look like for the rest of their life” (Hunte, 2020). Similar to Trinidad, Barbados recognizes the immense pressure and intimidation the exam puts on young schoolchildren.