Students seeking national certifications through the Marion County Carl Loftin Career and Technical Center have been left in a situation of unknowns.
Seniors who were set to get certified in specific trades will be given the option to get their national certifications but will have to do it on their own now. The testing for the certifications is usually done at the vocational center and is paid for by the Mississippi Department of Education.
The end-of-the-year testing has been waived by MDE, but students seeking certifications will still have to take the test to get certified. The national certification tests also served as end-of-the-year testing in certain subjects at the vocational center, and while students no longer have to pass it to complete the course they would still need to take to get certified.
Jan Sears, director for the vocational center, said there has been no clarification by the department of education if it would still pay for graduating seniors to take the certification tests. The state education department office is currently closed because of the pandemic, and officials didn’t respond to multiple email requests from the C-P.
“We just don’t know how that’s going to work,” Sears said.
The tests will still be available through programs such as ASE (Automotive Service Excellence), NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research) and others.
As far as other students who were taking courses at the Career and Technical Center, if they were passing the class when school was canceled they will get credit for the course.
“Mississippi has waived the state testing requirements so they won’t be required to take those this year,” Sears said. “Those also aren’t required to complete the course either.”
The students going back next year will get their credit for this year because the vocational center finishes its curriculum by the end of the third nine weeks. The final nine weeks are always dedicated to state testing and lab and clinical hours, for which the requirements have also been lifted.
“It’s good that we were able to finish the curriculum, but some of the students have access at home to things they were being taught but a lot of them don’t,” Sears said.
The courses offered at the vocational center have been adapted for distance learning as well, according to Sears. It has been offering packets of work, and teachers have remained in touch with students.
Sears added that she and the rest of her staff at the vocational center can’t wait to get back to school in the fall and start working again.
