This paper explores how the COVID-19 pandemic can act as a lens for educators and scholars to more clearly define some of the issues hampering effective science education in one Caribbean territory. The pandemic clearly revealed certain phenomena in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) including: the poor state of public scientific literacy; limited public understanding of the nature of science; an antagonistic dynamic with respect to public trust in science; and the lack of comprehensive remote/online pedagogical options for science.

This article explores some of the developments in Science Education in the English speaking Caribbean over the past thirty years. It examines in some detail the introduction of School Based Assessment (SBA) of experimental skills in Science subjects offered for the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) Secondary Education Certificate Examination This examination-led change is considered in the light of both its subjective and objective meanings.

In an increasingly inclusive educational environment in which Caribbean governments have signalled their commitment to Education for All, teachers are expected to respond to students’ diversity through differentiated practice. There has been no empirical research about the response of practicing teachers involved in the UWI Diploma in Education programme to differentiated instruction.