St George Secondary School Celebrates Outstanding Achievements in CSEC English A Examination

St George Secondary School principal Dennis Browne is over the moon after two of his fourth form students achieved Grade 1’s in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate English A examination.

Jahsmyne Taitt, 15 and Sabina Hariram, 16, are the pride of the school after achieving their results. They both struggled during their primary school years but overcame that to score the highest grade in the exam.

During an interview at the Constant, St George school yesterday, Browne said this was an example of how students can perform regardless of which institution they attended.

“They have made their parents and the school proud and I am very excited. I’ve asked Barbados to join with us and celebrate them.

“It’s time we rid ourselves of this nonsense that ‘this school is better than that school’, we need to look past that and see all our students are able to achieve,” he said.

Browne said there were other students of the school who had performed well but yesterday was all about Taitt and Hariram. He said it was key to foster self-confidence in students.

Self-esteem

“One of the things which helps our students to achieve, not only academically but also in sports and in technical/vocational studies, is to build their self-esteem. They all have to repeat an affirmation which says to believe in themselves as much as possible.

“We will continue to rise, the students of St George Secondary are beginning to believe,” he said.

The principal said the culture of prejudice and stigma against certain schools permeated society, even to educators and leaders, but he said all principals and teachers were equal just as all students were equal.

“At the Caribbean Association of Principals of Secondary Schools conference in July, the Prime Minister said she would be making every effort, through the Ministry of Education, to remove this stigma so all our students see themselves as being equal and I for one, can’t wait to see that day come,” he said.

As for the students, they said the examination was easy and they felt great to have done so well. Taitt said she worked hard.

“It took a lot of effort but our teachers made sure we understood everything so we didn’t go into the exam confused. In the end, it wasn’t difficult,” she said.

The 15-year-old also gave some advice to her fellow students, telling them not to let anyone discourage them from achieving success. (CA)