THE Ministry of Education (MoE) awarded several primary and secondary school and tertiary level students for their outstanding academic performance this year at the National Cultural Centre.

The Presidential Scholarship Award was presented to Michael Bhopaul of Queens College and Farah Chin of the Marian Academy for their outstanding performances in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations(CAPE). Michael Bhopaul also walked away as the overall best performer not only at the local level, but also at the regional level.
The Presidential Award at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) level was won by Rianna Toney of the Anna Regina Multilateral School and Alex Abraham of St. Roses High.

The top six performers at the Common Entrance level were also awarded with Dave Chowtie and Veneisha Lall leading the pack in their tie for first place at this year’s common entrance examinations.
Students from the Carnegie School of Home Economics (CSHE), Guyana Technical Education Examination (GTEE) and teachers from Cyril Potter College of Education were also awarded.

Meanwhile, St. Roses High was awarded for being the most improved senior secondary school while Houston Secondary landed the prize for most improved junior secondary school.
The awardees, through a packed programme, were given encouragement and motivation to continue progressing in their academic fields interspersed with speeches and cultural presentations. In her remarks, Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry urged the awardees to put their knowledge to good use, and continue to advance.

“Continue to recognise the true value of knowledge. While it is good to possess it, it works best when you invest it. When you invest your knowledge in people, in society, it grows, and its returns are often beyond what you can calculate… It is my hope, that each of you being awarded today, will go on to advance the cutting edge of knowledge, and that one day, at least one of you will be globally recognised for scholastic achievements… It is important for you to thrive in the bigger game of life,” Dr. Henry said.
The minister further noted that even though the awards are only for top performers, her ministry is working assiduously to continue creating opportunities for every child in Guyana to benefit.

In fact, she said, “In life, high achievements are usually recognised with accolades, awards and respect… It takes fortitude and focus to be at the top of your class… Our job at the Ministry of Education is to create opportunities across our education system, to develop every student to reach their full potential, and that is not only providing quality education for a few students at our more prestigious schools. But rather creating opportunities for every child in Guyana.”

Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson, said that he feels elated to see so many young people performing excellently in the various fields of study. He spoke passionately on the importance of education to national development.
“Education is critical to the progress and development of our nation… We cannot negate the fact that many of our problems that we have in society stem from the lack of education. Some of these include crime, poverty, misconceptions on issues, racism, poor value systems, and selfishness. These are all integral to the lack of education.

As our young people become more and more educated, many of these problems are bound to be eliminated. Education creates within the individual, the capacity to perform certain functions for themselves. Education lays the foundation for persons to think critically and rationalise issues for themselves,” Hutson said.
The outstanding performances of the students, Hutson said, deserved the recognition that was accorded them.

“… Anything that is unrecognised will go unrewarded, anything that is unrewarded will go uncelebrated, and anything uncelebrated will exit your life. We recognise and celebrate our young people today because we want them to remain in this country and to help us build a prosperous Guyana,” he said.
Hutson also acknowledged the critical role teachers and parents play in the performance of the children, as such, a few teachers were also awarded.