Tendai Franklyn-Brown, Staff Reporter

Scores of parents gather at the Education Ministry's Region One offices at the National Heroes Circle in Kingston, yesterday, in an attempt to obtain their children's Grade Six Achievement Test results. The results were withheld from the schools the children now attend because their birth certificates were not submitted. - Photos by Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

The Region One office of the Education Ministry will be opened from 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. today to facilitate parents who are yet to receive their children's Grade Six Achievement Test results. Parents should take their children's birth certificates in order to get the results.

The Ministry of Education's Region One Office in Kingston will be opened today to facilitate parents still awaiting their children's Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) results.

The results were withheld from the schools the children now attend because their birth certificates were not submitted before the test registration deadline in March, or were submitted late.

Tensions ran high at the ministry's central office yesterday as teachers and parents, some with their children in tow, converged outside the building, outraged by the withholding of the GSAT results.

Alton Davis, public relations manager at the ministry, told The Gleaner that the ministry was trying to ensure that parents get the results before the week ends.

Davis sought to assure them that measures had been put in place, such as a 'number' system to facilitate the process.

Opened late

Two obviously upset students stand among parents and guardians at the Education Ministry in Kingston yesterday, trying to get their GSAT results.

The Region Three office in Brown's Town, St Ann, was reportedly opened late yesterday, in an effort to process all the claims. It was reported that all other regional offices successfully delivered results to parents.

The GSAT has encountered several problems since its inception in 1999.

Last year several students were placed in schools which had not been built, angering parents. The students were subsequently relocated to existing schools.

tendai.franklyn-brown@gleanerjm.com