Lakshmi Girls' Hindu College (LGHC) is the pride and joy of the Education Board of Management of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha. This school is a same-sex, female, Hindu secondary school located in St Augustine. Past stu- dents will remember their alma mater as the "see-through" school as it is also remembered by one of its former teachers, our esteemed Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Lakshmi was called the "see-through school" because it lacked doors and windows as the Maha Sabha could ill afford to provide simple facilities at the only secondary school it operated at the time. However, today Lakshmi Girls is indeed making a name for itself.
Despite the school being established since the 1960s, the pursuing of Advanced Level subjects began in 1997 with only business subjects. Other subjects were added to the curriculum in 1998. The first A-Level class graduated in 1999 and after only three years, in 2002, the school received its first national scholarships. Three additional scholarships were received, one in business and two in science. With a pioneering move by the then principal, Anjanee Bissessar, the school replaced the Cambridge A-Level examinations in 2005 with the regional CAPE examinations and in the same year the school received 13 scholarships in total which included its first open business scholarship and seven additional business scholarships. From then on the school continued to excel year after year.
In 2009, the school received four business scholarships, which included two open and two additional. Only three open business scholarships are offered annually in T&T and Lakshmi Girls' received two out of the three. Also, the school learnt that one of the open business scholarship winners, Shivana Sharma, had also received the CXC CAPE Regional Business Prize 2009 in the Cayman Islands for being the top performing business student in the Caribbean. The success continued and in 2010, the school received two out of the three open business scholarships and was once again successful in being awarded the CXC CAPE Regional Business Prize in 2010. Open business scholarship winner Jenisa Bala received this top award in the Bahamas. However, in 2011 Lakshmi Girls excelled beyond our expectations by receiving 23 national scholarships.
This time the school was awarded all three open business scholarships offered in T&T, as well as five additional business scholarships. With eight in total, this is the most business scholarships awarded to any school. LGHC has become the top performing business school in the entire country. Also, for the third consecutive year, Lakshmi Girls received the CXC CAPE Regional Business Prize 2011 and open business scholarship winner Shalini Singh will collect her prize at the Hyatt Regency in November. Lakshmi Girls' Hindu College is the top performing business school in the Caribbean for the third consecutive year. Head of the Business Department, Nisa Suepaul, studied several scholarship winners for her masters in education thesis (2007) and found that self-motivation was the most important contributor to high achievement. This department incorporates many activities to ensure that students are continuously motivated and her other staff members are extremely dedicated.
They go beyond the call of duty to prepare and develop their students for life. Open business scholarship winner and regional business awardee, Shalini Singh credits her school for the tremendous impact it has made on her life. She admits that her experiences there shaped her into an all round individual, with a deep sense of spirituality and values, a strong academic base and a desire to serve her country and give back to society. She will soon be pursuing her LLB at Cambridge University in the UK. Shalini's cocurricular activities include foreign language, science and astronomy, Vedic mathematics and science, photography, drama and public speaking. Her extracurricular activities include volunteer work at the Charis Works Academy and she is a member of the Unesco Club.
The young scholarship winner has been deeply influenced by her grandmother and performs her Hindu religious devotions regularly. She lives by the words: "Do not dwell and grieve over the past for it is gone, do not be troubled by the future for it has yet to come, live in the present and make it beautiful that it will be worth remembering." LGHC is also excelling in the field of science by receiving 13 additional science scholarships in 2011. All 13 science scholarship winners are at present pursuing medicine. The school has also received open scholarships in the areas of modern languages, modern studies and, for the first time, maths.
Both the principal, Sonia Mahase-Persad and vice principal, Sharda Persad Ramjattan, were in high praise for the support the college receives from the Maha Sabha Education Board. "Their schools continue to excel academically and also ensure that students are exposed to a host of cocurricular activities through the teaching of music, as is evident in the vibrant Baal Vikas programme, drama as is evident in the staging of Ramleela and, most importantly, spirituality through the celebration of all Hindu observances and festivals. Lakshmi Girls is indeed evidence of this," the women have recorded.
• Satnarayan Maharaj is the secretary general of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha
THOUGHTS
• Lakshmi Girls' is the pride nd joy of the Education Board of Management of the Maha Sabha.
• The school's successes with CAPE began in 2005 and continues year after year.
• Lakshmi Girls also excelling in field of science.