Strong support system was crucial to students’ outstanding CSEC performances – QC Principal

Aug 24, 2017 News

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Writing over 11 subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate [CSEC] examination is certainly not a simple process. In fact, it is one that requires a strong partnership and unadulterated dedication to realise the desired results.

A well crafted plan was moreover warranted to foster an enabling environment, underscored Principal of Queen’s College [QC], Ms. Jackie Benn. Benn was proud to amplify too, during an interview with this publication, that the plan has been working well for her school.
QC has over the years been producing many top performing students who have over the years opted to write much more than the 11 subjects that the school’s timetable would easily allow.
Even as she made specific reference to the performances of her students this year she considered, in particular, the performance of 16-year-old Michael Bhopaul. At the May/June sitting of CSEC, Bhopaul wrote 25 subjects: Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, English A, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Human and Social Biology, Integrated Science, Principles of Accounts, Principles of Business, Office Administration, Economics, Electronic Document Preparation and Management, Information Technology, Social Studies, Caribbean History, Geography, Technical Drawing, Industrial Technology, Spanish, French, Food and Nutrition, Home Economic Management and Agricultural Science Double Award.
He achieved 24 grade ones passes with 21 distinctions and one grade two.
According to Benn, when Bhopaul first came to QC in 2012, he was already an outstanding performer, having claimed the national top performer place with his score of 547 at the National Grade Six Assessment.
“He was a child with a year average of over 90 percent so we expected nothing less from him,” said the proud QC Principal as she reflected on the day that Bhopaul approached her with his phenomenal intent. “He approached me when he was in Fourth Form and he said he wanted to do this number of subjects indeed. At that time I had to really think about it, because I wanted to know if he was going to be able to achieve this feat that he was setting for himself,” recounted Benn.
The Principal disclosed that it was after careful consideration that she decided to put together a team of teachers with a view of ensuring that the feat became a successful reality. Putting together a team was particularly important, Benn said, since the timetable limits students to 11 subjects. “It takes much more managerial skills to put a system like this in place so that you could work with the student off of the timetable,” explained Benn.
Teachers essentially worked beyond the call of duties to ensure that students with aspirations like Bhopaul’s were able to get the necessary attention. This saw efforts in this regard starting from as early in the mornings and continuing into the nights. In fact Benn disclosed that “we even sought and got additional assistance for him from other schools to help him realise his dreams. That is what each and every school should do…each school should examine the potential of students and work with them to realise their goals, it is not about you the teacher, but what the child wants to achieve,” Benn cautioned.
Taking this tactical approach, according to Benn, is something that QC has been doing for some time with success. Bhopaul during an interview with this publication said that the measures employed by his school were truly instrumental to his ultimate performance. Also lauding the efforts of her teachers in this regard was Rawleeta Barrow, who wrote nineteen subjects and achieved all grade one passes. She said that “my teachers never made me feel like I shouldn’t or couldn’t achieve my goals.”
Among the other QC students who yielded outstanding performances at the 2017 CSEC are: Roshawn Cummings (16 Ones), Jelena Arjune (14 Ones, 4 twos), Sydney Fraser (13 Ones, 3 twos), Cheri Frank (13 Ones, 2 twos), Jeevan Dalip (13 Ones, 1 two), Stephen Lewis (13 Ones, 1 two), Alyssa Nurse (13 Ones), Vishal Jack (12 Ones, 4 twos), Amisha Mohanlall (12 Ones, 3 twos), Diego Barnett (12 Ones, 2 twos) and Leonardo Gobin (12 Ones,2 twos).
“I am not surprised about the performances because I knew the quality of students that I had and together with my admin staff, I was able to set the mechanism in place to realise the goals we wanted to achieve,” related Benn.
Even as she commended the exemplary performances of her students, Benn also stressed the important roles played by parents and teachers in the equation.
“Without a strong support team, these students would not have performed as well as they did,” she asserted.

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