Education Ministry awards outstanding performers

Oct 08, 2009 News

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More than 30 students were prestigiously recognised yesterday when the Ministry of Education held its 13th National Award Ceremony for outstanding performance. The ceremony was held at the National Cultural Centre.
Among the duly awarded top performers in the CSEC category was Kia Persaud who copped awards for being the Best Senior Secondary School Performer and for being the Overall Best Performer.
Persaud, of Queen’s College, had secured grade one passes in 15 subject areas. Her classmates, Padminee Roshundatt, also with 15 grade one passes, and Roberta Ferguson with 13 grade one passes also copped prizes for being Best Senior Secondary School Performers.
Best performers in the Junior Secondary School category were Arifa Mohamed of the Anna Regina Multilateral School, Jaikeshan Takchandra of the West Demerara Secondary School, Joshua Bhudial of J. C. Chandisingh and Devendradatt Doodnauth of Tagore Memorial.
Among the awardees too were the Best performers of the National Grade Six and Nine Assessments and the Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examination (CAPE) Year I and Year II students.
In the Year II category Wainella Isaacs was awarded two prizes for best performance and for being the overall best performer. And since she is said to be pursuing further studies overseas, her mother was on hand to collect the two prestigious trophies on her behalf. Isaacs’ classmates, Walissa Roberts, and Melissa Moore were also awarded in the best performer Year II category.
In the Best Performer Year I category for CAPE were Yana Marisa Edwards, Aaron Haralsingh and Roy Permaul, all of Queen’s College.
Best Performers in the General Certificate of Education Advanced Subsidiary level are Rizwan Saffie and Dinesh Sukhu, both of Queen’s College.
In the GCE Advanced Level, the best performers are Renee Reynolds and Mark Elias of Queen’s College along with Tanicia Daniels of the Bishop’s High. The overall best graduating student of the Cyril Potter College of Education, Surujdai Rambarak was also duly awarded yesterday.
The most improved schools that were awarded included J. E. Burnham in the primary category, Tagore Memorial Secondary in the Junior Secondary category and St Rose’s High School in the senior secondary category.
The event was graced by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Professor Lawrence Carrington, Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana; several top education officials with the exception of both Ministers – Shaik Baksh and Dr Desrey Fox – tasked with manning the operation of the Ministry.
According to information from his office, Minister Baksh is conducting business on the Ministry’s behalf in Paris, France, while Minister Fox by telephone informed this newspaper that she was unwell.
Nonetheless, the organisers of the auspicious event would have still been quite satisfied when the delightful programme, laced with enthralling cultural performances, came to an end yesterday.
Ahead of the presentation of awards, Superintendent of Examination, Mrs Juliet Persico, disclosed that the awardees were identified based on their performances at examination during the 2008-2009 academic years.
And since the Examinations Division is the unit that makes the arrangement for the external sittings, it was responsible for preparing the list of the recipients of the awards. However, to ensure objectivity, the awards ceremony committee provided a list of criteria for granting the awards which served as guidance, Persico said.

“At the division the results of the exams were perused and suitable and eligible persons were identified in keeping with the criteria. However, to ensure that no errors were made in the selection process, assistance was sought from the Director of NCERD.”
Assistance, she said, was sought to identify the top performers of the National Grade Six Assessment, the National Grade Nine Assessment and the Guyana Technical Education Examination.
However, for the CXC Examinations including CSEC and CAPE, assistance was sought directly from the Caribbean Examination Council. In fact, she noted that the top performers were identified by CXC.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, during brief remarks to the gathering, emphasised the importance to celebrate, commend and honour the best performers.
This strategy, he said, will serve to keep them going, adding that “I have learnt in my own life that the reward for good work is more good work and continued good work.” As such he noted that yesterday’s award ceremony should serve to urge the awardees to keep up the good work as much is expected from them.
He noted that the outstanding performances are indicative of what every Guyanese could be. For this reason, he shared his optimism that more persons will sense a challenge to do similarly to achieve similar levels of excellence exhibited yesterday.
Professor Carrington in his feature address urged the awardees to continue to focus on their studies even as he underscored the importance of co-operation between school and family in the academic development of students.
The awards ceremony came as part of the continued observance of Education month which is being held under the theme ‘School attendance and punctuality: keys to Education success.’

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