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THE Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) is mounting pressure on the Government to eliminate the performance task component of the 2021/2022 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) for grade six students slated for next month.JTA President Wayne Smith told the Jamaica Observer on Monday that the grade six cohort scheduled to sit the exams are among the worst affected by an extensive period out of the classroom due to the novel coronavirus crisis."As such, there could be a delay in the other components of the examinations - that is the ability test and the curriculum based test as well. These two components could be administered in term three," Smith said.The JTA raised the matter at a meeting with the education ministry last week, and the suggestion on the table is for the PEP Monitoring Committee to reconvene and make recommendations, Smith advised.The ability test marks the start of the exit exams, with students scheduled to sit that paper on February 22. This is to be followed by the Language Arts performance task paper on March 23, and Mathematics on March 24. The curriculum-based paper is set for April 27 and 28.Smith stressed that the JTA is not calling for a total scrapping of the exam for this year as it would prolong learning loss."We believe that if the examinations are scrapped altogether, then that would be encouragement for students of Grade 6 to stop attending school seeing that they would be placed in a high school without doing any form of assessments. That, in our opinion, would further widen the learning gap," Smith said."We believe it's better to have the exams as it will ensure that our students attend school and, if worse-case scenario, we have to abort the exam, then at least our students would have been exposed to more face-to-face teaching which would put them in a better position academically, moving forward," he stated.Meanwhile, many teachers are reportedly uneasy about Thursday's announcement by Prime Minister Andrew Holness that the Government will be mandating a full return to the classroom, following the upcoming academic midterm break."We are very concerned with the resumption of school in a manner similar to pre-COVID-19 days, because this, we believe, will have an adverse effect on the ability of schools to operate in a safe manner," Smith told the Observer.The JTA president said teachers are worried that, with all the students back in the physical space, educators will be put at greater risk of COVID-19 infection, which will have a negative effect on the ability of schools to function efficiently. "We must never forget that if a teacher is infected it will put a serious strain on the administration's ability to maintain a safe and secure school environment with quality teaching and learning activities," he said.Further, he said teachers believe the current arrangement, which allows schools to have in-person classes a minimum of two days, should continue for now."JTA would prefer to see us continue using the current setup until we have greater control over the situation and a significantly lower positivity rate,"Smith added.Asked if, given those concerns, it would be advisable for schools to continue to proceed with caution on the number of face-to-face days, even if Government insists on full return, the JTA president remarked, "We cannot dictate to the Government, but certainly we would implore the Government to review its position in light of our current realities".In the meantime, some institutions have reported a return to face-to-face classes five days per week, on a rotation basis.Moreover, the JTA maintained its need for adequate resources for schools to properly implement the COVID-19 safety protocols."We are calling on the Ministry of Education to ensure that schools are provided with the necessary support needed to ensure the safety and security of both students and workers within each school. We cannot afford the school's safety supplies to finish, so there ought to be a constant supply to each school while face-to-face engagements continue," Smith said.