SVG students rewarded for hard work

More than 80 students who performed well at the 2006 Common Entrance and Caribbean Examinations Council /Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CXC/CSEC) were last Friday recognised for their performances, as the Ministry of Education held its National Awards Ceremony at the Methodist Church Hall in Kingstown.

The students were presented with trophies, certificates and plaques in various categories which included top performances in schools, commendable performances after remediation, best national results and top performers in subject disciplines.{{more}}

In the Common Entrance category, Saskia Renton of the St. Mary’s Roman Catholic School was awarded for first position, while Kalina Browne and Shaquille Thomas also of the St. Mary’s RC school and Mbeki Swift of the Marriaqua Government School who all tied for second place were also awarded.

Over 50 students who had not passed the common entrance exams but were placed in secondary schools were given special awards for their performances in the 2006 CXC/CSEC exams.

Angus Lewis, a former student of the Bethel High School was the most outstanding male student in that category, with eight CXC/CSEC passes, while Teressa Black of the JP Eustace Memorial Secondary was the top female with seven.

Priya Debnath of the Girls’ High School and Javal Wood of the St. Vincent Grammar School were the best overall female and male students respectively. Debnath garnered 11 passes and Wood 10.



Recognition was also given to the top performers nationally in the different subject disciplines. Those students were Isis Gonsalves of the Girls’ High School for Business Subjects; Victor Job Jr of the St. Vincent Grammar School for Creative/Performing Arts/ Physical Education ? Sport; Caletra Ferdinand of the St. Joseph’s Convent, Kingstown for Home Economics; Kevin McKie of the St. Vincent Grammar School for Industrial Technology; Raianna Thomas of the Girls’ High School for Science and Priya Debnath of the Girls’ High School for Humanities; she also received the prize for Modern Languages.

The school with the Most Improved Results was the Bishop’s College, Kingstown, the school with the Best Results after Remediation, was the Barrouallie Secondary School while the school with the best national results was the Girls’ High School.

The event was addressed by a number of education and other officials including the Minister of Education, Girlyn Miguel, Chief Education Officer, Susan Dougan and representatives of sponsors Cable and Wireless and DiscoveryWorks Legal. Chief Executive of Cable & Wireless, Foster Hannaway and General Manager of DiscoveryWorks Legal Kevin Jessamy confirmed their commitment towards education while congratulating the students.

The companies had donated $10,000 and $6,000 respectively towards the event.

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, also addressed the gathering, and claimed that the fruits of the education revolution are being reaped with the performances by the students in the 2006 examinations.

He said that he expects a swelling of attendances at universities overseas in the near future, and the construction of a number of schools in the country will help to reach that goal.

He also encouraged teachers to take advantage of training being offered to them.

Friday’s ceremony also saw a number of cultural and artistic performances from students, including a pan duet by Veronique Walker and Erica Nurse, a violin solo by Darron Andrews and a vocal ensemble by students of the Girls’ High School.