Catholic School youngster places fourth in CPEA

Rio Ezra Fitzpatrick does not think the Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA) is a waste of time as it helps educators to evaluate students.

Rio, a student of the St. Mary’s Roman Catholic School (SMRC) placed fourth overall and fourth for boys in the CPEA. He had an overall average of 97.2 percent with scores of 74 out 75 for Mathematics, 74 out of 75 for Language Arts, 74 out of 75 for Social Studies and 68 out of 71 for Science. He scored the highest mark in language with a percentage of 98.64.

The Layou resident, asked if he had a favourite subject said no, and that he felt “excited and “happy” when he found out he had placed fourth.

The young scholar, however, noted that the most difficult subject was Social Studies because the questions were worded in a way that made them difficult to understand.

About learning that he had topped the examinations, the youngster said, “I was at my grandmother’s house in Barrouallie spending time with her and my parents called me and told me my results…well I was surprised, and I was happy afterwards and exited”.

“I expected to do well, but like not so high in the top five, but I expected to be in the top 10,” he told SEARCHLIGHT.

The son of Dornelle and Loisha Fitzpatrick said he did a lot of past papers, studied and went to extra lessons. He is encouraging students going for write the CPEA to, “just study hard and be consistent with work”.

Rio is looking forward to enter the St Vincent Grammar School (SVGS) in September, and being it so early in his school life, he is not yet certain what career path he would like to pursue. “CPEA, it’s not a waste of time. I think it helps to evaluate the students before they go to the respective secondary schools and helps to see their progress in primary school and rank them,” Rio stated.