Top students rewarded for scholastic achievements

Students of St Vincent and the Grenadines were awarded for their scholastic achievements in the May/June 2013 CSEC and Common Entrance examinations.{{more}}

On Tuesday, the annual National Awards Ceremony took place at the Methodist Church Hall, to recognize and celebrate the successes of the nation’s students.

For yet another year, the Girls’ High School copped the award for being the school with the best CSEC results. The Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia was awarded for being the school with the best results after remediation and the Sandy Bay Secondary School replaced the West St George Secondary School for being the school with the most improved CSEC results.

Former student of the Girls’ High School Kaela Barrett was presented with the “Top female performer” award, for achieving 13 CSEC subject passes, with all grade ones. Kyle James, who was a student of the St Vincent Grammar School was awarded for being the “Top male performer” with 11 subject passes, with all grade ones.

During the ceremony, chief education officer Lou-Anne Gilchrist commended the outstanding performance of all the students present.

Gilchrist indicated that she was particularly pleased with the performance of the remediated students.

“I am especially pleased by the successes of those students who started with many deficits and with many challenges. Ministry of Education makes it their focus that value is added to every student,” she said.

This year, the LIME award for top performer overall after remediation was presented to D’Mario Browne, who attended the Emmanuel High School Mesopotamia. Browne achieved 10 subject passes with six Grade 2s and four Grade 3s, after entering secondary school with a Grade 2 reading level.

In her feature address, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Girlyn Miguel stressed the importance of striving for continued excellence.

Using poems and quotes from several sources, Miguel encouraged students to be determined and always aim for the top.

“Students, we hail your success, but more importantly, we hail the success of those who failed, but got up and tried again. We have many success stories, especially among those awardees today who could not boast of being successful at the Common Entrance Examination administered in their day,” the Education Minister said.

“As an educator, it is always my hope that every student, as well as every citizen of this nation, will develop and nurture a culture of hard work, success, determination, diligence and dedication to whatever area of education they are involved in.”

In addition, Miguel told students that part of the reason for success was because they believed in themselves.

“Today marks a historic moment in the lives of our treasured young people. Over the years, this ceremony served as a catalyst to advance the academic and personal developments of the students of this nation. Ladies and gentlemen, let me remind you that the mission of the Ministry of Education is to provide a holistic education for every student. Our educational thrust is not only geared to the academic development of our human resources, but also to the building of values, character, psychomotor skills and broadening of the knowledge base,” she said.

In their thrust to foster youth development and support the universal educational access, LIME has been the proud sponsors of the National Awards Ceremony for the past 10 years.

Like the education officials, marketing manager Nikala Williams recognized the achievements of the students and wished them luck on their continued academic journey.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Ministry of Education for once again allowing us the privilege of partnering with them and to congratulate all the students who will be awarded today. Let this time be a stepping stone to continued growth and development. To the proud teachers, the parents, the guardians, they could not have done it without you,” she declared. (BK)