Bishop's High School graduate Rebecca Vilain has earned the Arthur NR Robinson scholarship for her top performance in the 2010 GCE A-level examination. Rebecca, who will enjoy $100,000 a year to pursue her studies, was the recipient of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) award in the field of academics on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the Assembly. Other scholarship awardees based on the 2010 CAPE and GCE A-Level examinations are Anil Williams for business studies, Candice Radgman for languages and Marie Thomas, science. The three each have an entitlement of $45,000 per year.
Announcing the awards at Wednesday's post Executive Council media briefing, THA Chief Secretary Orville London said the awards will cover tuition, personal maintenance, book allowances, special equipment, incidentals, travelling and the like. The Chief Secretary also reported mixed results in the National Test saying that Tobago's Standard One students did reasonably well, while there was still room for improvement among the Standard Three students. He said students were placed in the top ten in either or both Language and Mathematics areas in Standard One where Tobago schools showed improved performances.
Among the top performing schools were Black Rock Government, Mt St George Methodist, Parlatuvier Anglican, Scarborough RC, Speyside Anglican, Lambeau AC, North Regional SDA, Delaford RC, Pentecostal Light and Life Foundation, Hope AC, Signal Hill Government, Whim AC, Delaford AC, Speyside AC and Castara Government. Another announcement had to do with five veterinarians working in Tobago who graduated from the University of the West Indies School of Medicine who have benefitted from the pre-health programme initiated by his administration a few years ago.
He said the Assembly was able to negotiate with UWI for eight Tobagonians to be given access to the pre-health programme each year. "If they got a "B" average or above after the one-year programme they became entitled to enter one of the faculties to do pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary science or medicine."
London added that several Tobagonians have benefitted or are benefitting from this programme and this year a total of 12 or 13 Tobagonians have been offered places in the pre-health programme. He said: "These are students that under normal circumstances, either because of finances or sometimes because they did not qualify, would not have been able to get into medical school at all."