THE Canada based Uitvlugt Community Support Group, last Saturday, awarded 20 students the sum of $912,000 in recognition of their performance at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) 2011. A release, from the Regional Information Office in Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara), said the cash awards and certificates of achievement were presented to the awardees  by the local representatives of the donor group, Mr. Chamanlall Naipaul and Mr. Fazal Rafeek, in the presence of their parents and Headmistress of  Uitvlugt Primary School, Ms. Marlyn Cameron.
Each of the four top beneficiaries received $57,000 while the other eight, individually, got $28,500 each.
Cameron lauded the overseas donors and said theirs was a fine gesture that would enhance the performance of not only the recipients but others who are now pursuing studies to sit the NGSA.
In his remarks to the gathering, Naipaul, a resident of Uitvlugt, congratulated the recipients and urged them to continue treading the path of studies.
He told the students that their success at the NGSA is only the beginning of a long academic career and further encouraged them to look towards greater heights.
Naipaul said the overseas benefactors are overwhelmed with joy and would like to see more successes in the coming years.
He noted that, over the last five years, the Toronto-based group was very instrumental in supporting the school in a similar manner.
Rafeek, a former Uitvlugt resident, now a businessman in Georgetown, said the ceremony should have taken place simultaneously with the school’s prize-giving and awards function two weeks before but there was a delay.
He, too, pledged the group’s continued support.