THE small primary school located in the quiet community of Bamia on the Linden Soesdyke Highway, has recorded for the first time in its history, 100% pass rate at the 2019 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).

Also for the first time, a student would have been awarded a place at a top ranking high school in Georgetown. This year’s top student was awarded a place at St Roses High, with 506 marks. The second top performer was awarded a place at Mackenzie High, which is the top ranking high school in Linden while the third top performer was awarded a place at the New Silver City Secondary School.

Top student, Priya Ramnana, said that she expected the results since she always did well in school. She credited her performance to dedication and hard work. “I had to be up late at nights studying and still had to wake up early in the morning,” she said. She expressed appreciation to her teacher, Denise Fordyce, and her mother, Marcia, for playing a pivotal role in her performance. Head Teacher of the school, Denise Piggott, said that she served at the school for 17 years and for those seventeen years she prayed and waited for such outstanding performance from the school. She is more than elated because of the circumstances under which the pupils were forced to work. The pupils did not have many of the opportunities enjoyed by pupils at the schools in Linden and others on the coastland.

Piggott believes that the children’s performance should be more than celebrated. Basic amenities such as electricity, regular transportation, extra lessons, internet service for research etc. were not afforded to the pupils, and under these circumstances, they still succeeded. “I just want to thank God because these children worked under adverse conditions, because of coming from under privileged homes, many of them could not even afford textbooks, at one time there was no electricity so I am very thankful to God. I always hoped for a day like this and all these years we worked and worked and did not give up,” she said.

“They are a small bunch and so sometimes the teacher is there ready to start a new topic but a child is not there as yet, so she would have to wait…sometimes you see them today and you don’t see them back until next week, because of their economic circumstances,” the HM related. This sometimes frustrated the Grade Six teacher, Denise Fordyce, but Piggott said she always encouraged her not to give up and always gave her the moral support to keep working.

In addition, the children were under a lot of pressure to make up numbers for cultural activities the school participated in. This was also due to them being few in number and so they were under pressure to participate in various activities at once, such as the school’s Mashramani competition. “I can say they were versatile because they participated in calypso, drama, dancing and I ensured that they were exposed to these things so they won’t feel left out, even if we don’t place first, it mattered that we were just present and involved,” she said.

In addition, the HM is calling on the regional officials to realise the importance of a primary school being constructed at Bamia since currently the children are being housed in a multi-purpose building. While there were plans to build a school since last year, the monies budgeted to do so, had to be transferred to reconstruct the Christianburg Primary School, after the RDC experienced some glitches in the procurement process for Bamia. Piggott said that it is pivotal that a school is built; more so that this year’s results show that the pupils on the highway also deserve the same opportunities as those in Linden.

“There is no reading room, no computer room, no outdoor facilities, no library, no adequate classroom space or other necessary facilities…all these are needed at the school. Teachers also experience difficulty presenting their lessons as there is no privacy and sound proofing mechanisms,” the HM said.

Despite these challenges, Piggott says that the teachers go to school every day and play that role of being parent, teacher, mentor, friend, social worker, all in one to the children. “We ensure they are fed even if we have to take money out of our own pockets, we ensure they go on tours, despite their circumstances so that they would be exposed to other places other than their little community,” she said.