–LFSS teachers financially help students to succeed at CSEC

CHRISTIANBURG Wismar Secondary School (CWSS) and Mackenzie High School (MHS) stole the spotlight at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Examination Council (CSEC), but the Linden Foundation Secondary School (LFSS) has also done well.
The LFSS is deemed in some quarters as a low-performing school, but performed well in the skill-based subjects at the examinations.
This school in Amelia’s Ward has a large percentage of students who were not very successful at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), but in recent years has recorded 100 per cent passes in skill-based subject areas.
Subjects such as Food, Nutrition and Health (FN&H) and Home Economics Management have not only received 100 per cent passes, but have seen improvement in the number of grades III to grades II this year.
Head of the Home Economics Department, Petal Adams, told the Guyana Chronicle that all the students sitting FN&H passed and it is an emotional victory for her.
She said many of the students were underachievers in other technical subject areas, but they expressed great interest in pursuing the skill-based subject, even though it is a very expensive one to pursue.

“Many of them could not have afforded to do their practical sessions and teachers and other staff members who wanted to see them succeed since they were very dedicated to the subject, went into their own pockets to see the children complete their practical sessions and to see many of them getting Grade II. The feeling is overwhelming,” Adams related.

Another staff member, Joy James, who also financially helped some of the students, expressed great joy at seeing her charges do well.
“I remembered one day I saw one of them and I said (name given), why are you not preparing for the practical and he said ‘Miss Joy and I am ashamed to take out my wares and so from by bag, because the children are laughing me because they are not proper.’ I went home and got my own stuff for him and every other practical after that, despite I may not get the money even if I had to borrow it, I would go and buy all the stuff he needed to do it and he got a Grade two and I am very pleased,” a joyful James said.
One of these students related to the Guyana Chronicle that he wanted to pursue a subject that he knows he is good at, but was hesitant to do so because his mother could not have afforded it.

“I started the class and everything, but I almost end up dropping out and Miss Joy came to my rescue; sometime I would stay away because I didn’t want to pressure her, but she would come and look for me and make sure I got my stuff, so I am very happy about my grade,” the young lad said.
Adams said that she finds great joy in teaching the subject because she knows that many of the children are not academically inclined and can use the subject to pursue a career path that can give them an opportunity to earn.
For 11 years she has been teaching Home Economics and has had the joy of seeing many students secure jobs at top-ranking hotels.
“Some of my students are working at Princess Hotel, Cara Lodge and even went on to owning their own businesses and this makes me feel very proud to know that they have garnered skills that they can fall back on.”

Adams explained that the Home Economics Department at LFSS is a top-ranking one, very spacious and cooking friendly with a lot of modern equipment.
She is however recommending that some more special equipment be provided to the department, since the teachers would have to bring their own from their homes to assist the children. Despite this, the children pursuing the subjects, she said, always cling to the Home Economics room.
In addition to gaining 100 per cent passes in FN&H, the school also saw improvements in subject areas such as English A, Principles of Business, Information Technology, Mathematics and Geography.