SKELDON’s Line Path Secondary School, which months ago attracted a low entrance score at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations, may be upgraded to a Grade A school following its exceptional performance at the recently released Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations.

In a previous interview with this newspaper, Region 6 Chairman, David Armogan had made the following remark: “Line Path Secondary used to be a high performing school, where you had to get high marks to get into that school. That school has now been graded as 370 as a cut-off point.”
However, with two of the institution’s students being  listed as top performers in the East Berbice/Corentyne region, Armagon told the media that efforts would be made to have the Ministry of Education upgrade the school to its former position as a Grade A learning institution.
Region 6 top CSEC performers, Kelvin Tekram and his best friend Kishan Ramesh, both of Skeldon Line Path Secondary School, believe that one must face the challenges within the school system, whilst seeking ways of solving the relevant  problems.
The teenagers each achieved twelve grade ones and two grade twos at the recently written Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations, and were still savouring the success of their hard work when this reporter caught up with them, last week at their alma mater.
Headmistress Yvette Johnson reported that 74.8 percent of the 117 students which the school had fielded for the CXC examinations obtained grades one to three passes in the subjects they had written, while 63.2 percent and 50.4 percent received passes in English Language and Mathematics respectively.
She attributed this success to efficient teamwork by the 35 staff members, who were each committed to having the school regain its place among the regional high-flyers.
With the school being one of the pilot institutions for English and Mathematics, Johnson noted that Subjects Monitor, Mr. Looknauth made regular visits to the institution, and was ‘a tower of strength’ through challenging periods.
Credit was also given to the overseas-based Tagore Philanthropic Organisation for its donations of the requisite educational resources; and retired headmaster Sankar Rampertab and former Head of the Mathematics Department, Mr. Talack Mohanood, were cited for their continual support.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Kelvin Tekram is still to decide on his career path, and is currently on a ‘break’, during which he would decide on his future area of study.
The teenager had excitedly logged onto the Ministry of Education facebook page and had observed his name listed as a top performer in the region.
“It had paid off,” he mused. “I had the faith to believe that God would have helped me, and He did.”
A member of an extended household, Kelvin had previously attended the Massiah Primary School, from where he passed the Grade Six Assessment examinations and attained a position at his alma mater.
In a bid to challenge himself, he added three subjects to those he had planned to write, namely Principles of Accounts, Office Administration and Integrated Science, during the final months leading up to the examinations. Besides securing passes in those subjects, the teen secured an overall eight distinctions, with passes also in Mathematics, English A, English B, Social  Studies, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Human and Social Biology, Technical Drawing, and Principles of Business.
And his friend Kishan Ramesh, called Kevin, aged 17 years, recounting, said he thought his mother was pulling a prank on him after he received a text message informing him of his success.
“I was holidaying in the United States when I got a text message informing me that I had tied with Kelvin. Responding, I questioned whether it was true, whilst trembling with fear and unbelief, until I checked the Ministry of Education facebook page.
Kishan, who is also taking a break from his studies, wrote subjects similar to Kelvin’s including History, but has set his sights on either pursuing studies in Agriculture or Medical Surgery.
He lives by the notion, “Climbing a mountain is a very hard and long journey, but the view at the top is worth the struggle”. Explaining, he said, “Sometimes high school includes a lot of peer pressure, but one must remember the reason for schooling, and work on all the problems. Eventually, one will get all the answers.