All the best to our graduates

We are well into graduation season, a time when our students at all levels are rewarded for years of dedication and hard work. Congratulations to them all!

Over the last few weeks and continuing this week, the secondary schools have been turning out their graduates and this afternoon, the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC) will hold its graduation ceremony, an event which usually dwarfs all other such local ceremonies, by its sheer size.{{more}}

It is also graduation time for the over 1,800 students who wrote the CPEA and will be moving to secondary school. It is very gratifying to note that over 80 per cent of the students who wrote the exam this year attained the required standard, a tremendous improvement over what obtained just a few years ago. Just eight years ago, we were celebrating a 60 per cent pass rate, which then, was a marked improvement over a few years prior.

Although graduation is usually a joyous time for most, it could be a period when some of our young people feel depressed, forlorn and confused as they look on from the shadows, as their peers are celebrated for their success and seem to be moving easily to the next level or opportunity, while they are unable to.

We must be sensitive to those young people who did not live up to expectations, in many cases, their own expectations. Also in need of encouragement and support are those without the financial means to achieve their dreams at this time.

We must remind our young people that they should never give up, as they have a great asset — their youth — which gives them ample time, energy and opportunity to get back on track when they falter.

They should be encouraged by the fact that young people of today have more choices than any other generation that came before them. They are not constrained by the150 square miles that make up St Vincent and the Grenadines; they are truly a part of a global village whose opportunities are there for them to grasp, once they put their mind to it. They are part of a generation that is not afraid to question the status quo and will march to the beat of a drum only they can hear. All the very best to our graduates at all levels!