Education without disciple and decency is worthless

– Swami Aksharananda tells graduating students

The Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) Secondary School, Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara, on Sunday held its eighth annual graduation programme to honour 34 students who excelled at the 2012 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.  Thirty-one of the 34 students wrote 11 subjects and secured passes in all.  The best graduating student, Bibi Ameena Nazaralie, who was placed seventh in the country’s Top 10, obtained five grade ones and eight distinctions.
The annual ceremony held on the lawn of the school’s compound was attended by President Donald Ramotar, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, political commentator Ravi Dev, Region Three Chairman Julius Faerber, businessman Roshan Khan, other dignitaries and parents.
Hinds was given the honour of lighting the traditional ceremonial lamp before the ceremony began.
During the programme, several awards were given out to the graduating students, and to other students who have excelled throughout the 2011-2012 academic year.
Eight top achievers were awarded for their performances in the 2011-2012 academic year, while six were awarded for their outstanding contributions to the school in the past academic year. Five of the students who graduated were awarded the Rubert Gobin Memorial Award for their exceptional performance in English A and B.
Nazaralie was overwhelmed with trophies and other awards from SVN, the business community and well wishers.
President Donald Ramotar, in addressing the crowd, advised the students to see their achievement as the beginning of their studies as they have laid the foundation for further development in life.
He noted that there is no greater pleasure than creating the possibilities for everyone to have access to education, stating that it is always a source for inspiration to attend such functions where bright young faces are filled with enthusiasm and ready to face the challenges of the world.
The president stated that education in Guyana has been evolving, especially in the interior where students are now being provided with a secondary education.
He disclosed that 61 million children the world over do not attend school, and called on all students to “grasp the opportunity to be able to get an education” so that they can live better and more productive lives.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, stressing the importance of education, said “Education is the way forward; education brings us the accumulated knowledge so that we can be more productive as we grow older and enter the workforce.”
Meanwhile, Swami Aksharananda, the principal of SVN, revealed that the school obtained a 97 per cent pass rate at the 2012 CSEC examinations.
He said the SVN does not only educate its charges, but also instils in them values and morals on how to conduct themselves, noting that an education without disciple and decency is worthless.