GT&T honours top Linden NGSA performers
THE   Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company (GT&T) honoured the country’s  top National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) performer, Terron Alleyne of Regma Primary School, along with other outstanding students in Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice), last Thursday. The significant ceremony was held in the Linden Concert Hall and School (LICHAS) auditorium, at Mackenzie.
GT&T Chief Executive Officer  (CEO), Mr. Yog Mahadeo spoke after the Regional Parent Teachers Association (PTA) President, Pastor Selwyn Sills had remarked that: “God has placed his faith and blessings in you who have done well.”
Mahadeo said: “This is where GT&T is coming from. We recognise that we all live in this wonderful place called Earth and I recognise that we are all equals in this beloved country of ours, Guyana. It is when the light of fame is thrust upon us, as it is upon you children,   that you have to, not only accept that, but ask: ‘Will I spend it out in a matter of days, weeks or months’?”
According to him, the children being honoured must decide if they will ensure that they take this light forward for the rest of their lives as it must be the task that is entrusted to young children.
“We must recognise the children publicly. Teachers, you are role models,” he observed, as he noted that the parents, children and teachers all can be successful, but they cannot be without the community of Linden, which also deserves that recognition,” Mahadeo said.
He then announced that the utility will recognise, as well, in the top five, Alleyne, Carol Hopkinson, Teryicka Mohabir, Shabika Jackson, Alima Shabudeen and Risa Retemeyer, all bound for Queen’s College (QC) and the other 25 persons who were invited.
Mahadeo said GT&T had decided to donate vouchers to purchase text books for the school year for the children who were  placed at the top school in the country,  while Alleyne will be on GT&T’s bursary programme for the next couple of years, to help him through secondary school.
He challenged young Alleyne: “It is for you to do your best, so that we can help fund you through university.”
Regional Chairman, Mr. Mortimer Mingo, who is also Chairman of the Education Committee of the region assured: “We will continue to ensure we carry out our  mandate in the delivery of education across Linden and Region 10.”
He recalled that, last year when the results came out and Region 10 could not find itself in the first 100 children in the country, he said something was wrong with the delivery of education .
Mingo said he is pleased that the teachers and parents had redoubled their efforts.
“You did not only change it but Region 10, having produced the top students throughout the length and breadth of this country is a very significant achievement,” he acknowledged.
GT&T Public Relations Officer, Ms. Allison Parker, in her introductory remarks, had stated that Mahadeo has a passion for what goes on in Linden and that was the reason  this special function was hosted to salute the brightest and best in the country.
She said: “GT&T shares the pride this community feels in the academic excellence that the students in this town demonstrated.
“We have stated and restated that our commitment to Guyana and Guyanese goes beyond the provision of telecommunication services,” Parker assured.

Public, private sectors jointly recognise Linden students’ excellence
CHIEF Education Officer (CEO), Mr. Olato Sam has acknowledged the excellent performances of students from Region 10 (Upper Demerara/ Upper Berbice) at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations.
Including the nation’s top student, Terron Alleyne of Regma Primary School, he pointed out that Linden has the benefit of having the most trained teachers in the nation.
“So I expect nothing less than the excellence that you would have seen this year alone,” Sam said, last Friday night, addressing the special students who were being duly recognised at the seventh annual Barrow’s Restaurant and Lounge (BRL) Bursary Awards Ceremony.
He stated: “Added to that, however, there are clear messages for our young people. More of them need to emulate the hard work that these children have certainly put in to what really has amounted to an overall, really admirable, performance.”
The unique annual function usually caters for the top students of each primary school in Region 10 (Upper Demerara/ Upper Berbice) at the NGSA but, this year, an additional 24, who placed at Queen’s College (QC), were included.
It was the first time, in more than a decade, that Linden has produced the nation’s top student, in Alleyne and the CEO specially lauded him, saying: “The concept shown is what it does, brings out such a wide range of stakeholders and it reinforces what we hold near and dear in the Education Ministry’s perspective that these parties really need to come together.”
A special guest also was the Region 10 top Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) candidate, Mackenzie High School’s Zainab Abdul-Karim who, with 13 grade ones and one grade two, was among the nation’s best performers and had been the region’s top 2006 NGSA BRL bursary awardee.
For the first time, the BRL presentation had included other business entities as Digicel, with its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Gregory Dean and Public Relations Officer, Ms. Shonnette Moore; Citizen’s Bank Human Resources Manager, Mr Gavin Hope and Administrative Manager, Ms, Denise Thompson and representatives of Courtney Benn Contracting Services and Linden Electricity Inc all joined in the public, private sectors promotion of this year’s presentation hosted at BRL on Dageraad Avenue, Mackenzie.
All the students were presented with plaques from Trophy World, cash donations and book bursaries, while Ms. Cheryl Wills, the Regma Primary school teacher who taught the top three students in the region who placed among the nation’s best overall, was also rewarded with a special prize from Courtney Benn Contracting Services.
In his speech, Sam commended the people in Linden and those who organised the function because not too many other places are able to pull all of these entities together.

Clear indication
“Beyond that, there is a clear indication here that people are taking education seriously and are doing the things that are necessary to ensure there is development and growth in a significant way,” he added.
Sam emphasised that, “this leap that we have recognised in the performance level of people in the region, this year, didn’t happen overnight. So I commend our teachers, first of all for their sustained efforts and their commitment in raising the performance level, because I do see signs of progress not only at the primary level but also at the secondary level.
“Added to that, however, there are clear messages for our young people. More of them need to emulate the hard work that these children have certainly put in to what really has amounted to, overall, really an admirable, performance. So, when you put everything together, I think this is honouring excellence and whenever we do have an opportunity to recognise such output, you really need to embrace it from the level of the Ministry of Education and that is why I am here,” he explained.
Sam told the students that secondary education is preparation for university and the nation cannot develop the people who would have just attained a secondary education any longer.
“For us to really make the leap to the next level, we need people who have been exposed to higher education and have university level qualifications and experiences. It is at that level that you begin to specialise and really get to the core and reach the skills and knowledge that will help us to develop as a nation.
“And so, we have to ingrain in the minds of all our young people that secondary school is just preparation for that level,” he advised.