Guyana has again dominated the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations and will pick up five of the eight awards, which will be presented to top students at this year’s examinations.
The announcement was made by Guyana’s Education Minister Priya Manickchand during a special press conference last Thursday. Manickchand expressed satisfaction with the performance of the students, noting that it was a proud moment for Guyana.
“I am extremely pleased to congratulate these students on their momentous achievements…To the teachers and parents who would have worked incredibly hard to ensure that these children perform at the highest level, I thank you,” the minister said.
Topping the list of awardees is Yogetta Persaud of Anna Regina Secondary School who will be presented with an award for Overall Outstanding Achievement.
Rafeena Mohammed from the Saraswatie Vidya Niketan School copped the award for Most Outstanding in Humanities, Cecil Cox of Queen’s College for Most Outstanding in Sciences, Sasha Woodroffe of Queen’s College for Most Outstanding in Business Studies, and Zimeena Rasheed of Anna Regina Secondary School for Most Outstanding in Technical Vocational.
Goal to win all awards
The other three awards for Most Outstanding Candidate in Visual Arts–Two-Dimensional Work; Most Outstanding Candidate in Visual Arts–Three-Dimensional Work, and Most Outstanding Candidate in Short Story Writing were won by students outside of Guyana. Manickchand said Guyana will be working to win all eight awards sometime in the future.
The minister said the achievements of the students are a reflection of the investments government continue to make in the education sector.
“The government remains committed to the development of the education provided to our students which means that as a country we will be producing more students of high quality who will be well equipped with the essential skills that will forge a development strategy from which all Guyanese will benefit,” she added.
Meanwhile, in addressing whether students should be restricted to writing fewer subjects, Manickchand said the education ministry does not encourage students to write large numbers of subjects.
According to her, the policy states that a student would have to show remarkable competency before they are allowed to write more than eight to 10 subjects. She also emphasised that these students would also be required to pass the Grade Nine exams before they can sign up for the CSEC exams.
She said, “The fact that we have students writing 20 means we have the capacity to write 20.” Manickchand stated that the ministry will not dictate how many subjects one student can write, if they are willing and able to, then those persons would be allowed to write the exams.
Within the last decade, Guyana has been consistently winning awards from CXC based on the excellent performance of students.
