Last week the results of the assessment for the English language were announced on St. Eustatius. This assessment is part of the preparations for the transition to English as instruction language. The objective of this test was to establish the level of command of the staff members and who needs in-service training to attain the desired level which is required to be able to teach in English. The test and the training route are organised by the University of St. Martin (USM) on the instructions of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
During two meetings director Francio Guadeloupe and language experts Rhoda Arindell and Wendie Brown of the USM also explained how the data has been analysed and what the training route will look like. Subsequently the attendees were given the opportunity to ask questions.
On the basis of the scores the assessment team has determined the level of command per participant. For this purpose they used the classification of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference). This system distinguishes six levels, which are currently used in Europe, and to an increasing extent worldwide, to determine a person’s level of command of a foreign language. Of primary and secondary school teachers it is expected that they will pass the Cambridge Proficiency Exam C2 following the training (staff of the pre-school facilities and other education-related institutes are working towards the ‘Cambridge First Exam B2’ (C2 is the highest level for advanced speakers and B2 represents the highest intermediate level).
The scores have shown that most candidates are approximately at intermediate level (B1 to B2). The participants have been divided into four different groups, in accordance with their scores. The training courses will start in April 2015 and will last six months.