Now, Trinidad’s MoE has refused to abolish the SEA as they have many things to consider in the process – easier said than done. As for the heavy criticism of the exam’s psychological harm to schoolchildren, the Minister of Education, Anthony Garcia, holds a different opinion: He believes the children’s stress on the exam to be the pressure parents put on their child rather than the exam itself (Ramdeo, 2019). Garcia brings forth a valid point – most parents want their child to attend prestigious secondary schools, which would require a high score. Consequently, they hold high expectations for their child’s performance, which harmfully places immense pressure on their child to outperform (De Lisle & Mcmillan-Solomon, 2017).

However, the parents’ responded by saying nobody is at fault except for the Ministry of Education – if they made great efforts to close the gap between high-performing and low-performing schools, all pressures would not persist. Ultimately, it all falls back on the Ministry as they are the governing body of education. Instead, they continue to point fingers rather than hold themselves responsible for the success and wellbeing of schoolchildren.