…with 100 percent passes in six subjects
Excellent performance at the Caribbean Secondary Examination Council (CSEC) exams by 66 students of the St. Ignatius Secondary School in Region 9 has placed the school among those with the highest achievement of 100 percent pass rates in six subjects. This was noted by Minister of Education Shaik Baksh in his remarks at the school’s graduation ceremony last Friday, when he acknowledged its excellent performance in the sciences.
The results reflected creditable performance in Geography, Agriculture Science, Integrated Science, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. In addition, its 2011 enrollment of 726 will see the school attaining a Grade A standard.
He attributed the 91 percent pass rate in Biology, 78 in Chemistry and 64 in Physics to the dedication and commitment of trained teachers at the school, along with the support of government, which he said will be continued.
“We will continue to give support to the teachers as we want to ensure that there is quality education throughout Guyana. We will not compromise on that,” he said.
In 2011, for the first time, five new subjects were offered at the St. Ignatius Secondary, including Building Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology and Physics. He charged the continuing students to take up Information Technology at the CSEC level as IT is the way of the future in Guyana.
He emphasised government’s commitment to providing all secondary schools with computer laboratories and adequate training for teachers, especially in the IT field, where 3000 teachers will be trained this year to ensure that each child is computer literate.
Minister Baksh congratulated the parents for the attention given to their children’s secondary education and urged the students to “no longer be satisfied with a basic primary education.”
He added that government made tremendous strides in investment in education, so that the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of 100 percent access to primary education could have been achieved. Today, all children have access to primary education, and government is now moving ahead to provide access to secondary education for every child completing primary education.
Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai, in her remarks to the students, highlighted that their performance is a reflection of the positive impact of the government in the education sector.
This policy, she said, has not allowed the geographical location or remoteness of communities to deny any child access to education.
She stated that this will continue, as is seen today, with hinterland students having increased access to secondary education.
This demonstrates government’s belief that education is the foundation for the eradication of poverty from among the people.
Minister Sukhai also congratulated best graduating student Shama Noel for his presentation on the occasion of Guyana attaining its MDG of 100 percent access to primary education.
She attributed the students’ good performance at the CSEC examinations to the support of parents, good management and administration on the part of the school, dedication by teachers and commitment on the part of students.
Secondary education access in the hinterland has greatly improved with more than a dozen secondary schools built with dorms.
Apart from St. Ignatius, there are the Annai, Aishalton and the Sand Creek Secondary Schools in Region Nine.
Sand Creek is the most recently built, at a cost of over $77M, and the accompanying dorm is nearing completion. (GINA)