Satnarayan Maharaj’s positive influence on the education sector is beyond question, so it was only fitting that yesterday, on the eve of his funeral, that part of his legacy was further enhanced. It came in the form of an announcement from the Ministry of Education that a graduate of a Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha secondary school is one of two students awarded the President’s Medal for outstanding performance in this year’s Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exam (CAPE).
It is noteworthy that Celine Roodal is the fifth student in as many years from Lakshmi Girls’ Hindu College to earn this accolade and she did it by scoring top grades in Environmental Studies, Mathematics, Information and Communications Technology and Natural Sciences. This is the crowning achievement in another year of exceptional academic achievements for Lakshmi Girls’ which topped all of the secondary schools in the country by gaining the largest number of scholarships, a total of 40.
These achievements didn’t come about by chance. They were tangible evidence of Mr Maharaj’s vision for education being realised in Maha Sabha schools. During his tenure as Secretary-General, there had been significant developments, including the modernisation of 43 primary and 5 secondary schools and construction of 12 early childhood education centres. As a result, high academic standards had been set and maintained at all levels of the education sector by students from schools run by the Maha Sabha.
It should be a national aspiration to emulate these academic standards throughout T&T’s education system as a fitting tribute to Mr Maharaj who left an indelible mark on the sector.
Today, it is with great pleasure that Guardian Media celebrates the successes of Ms Roodal and fellow President’s Medal winner, Sharvaani Rampersad-Maharaj, of Naparima Girls’ High School, who won for her outstanding performance in Business, Creative Arts, Languages and Humanities.
This year, once again, the girls have outpaced the boys in CAPE. Not only have they grabbed the top academic honours but the highest number of scholarships were won by three girls’ secondary schools—Lakshmi Girls’ Hindu College, St Augustine Girls’ High School and Naparima Girls’ High School. The top-performing boys’ school was Hillview College with 22 scholarships.
Also worthy of celebrating is the fact that this year overall there was such an improvement in CAPE results that more than 400 students met the criteria for the award of national scholarships. Every single one of these young men and women has done T&T proud and stand out as exemplars in their schools and communities.
While “prestige” schools continue to grab the lion’s share of the open and additional scholarships, there is increasing competition from other schools. In that regard, hats off to Arima Central Secondary, Couva East Secondary, El Dorado East Secondary, Rio Claro West Secondary and San Fernando Central Secondary for their outstanding scholastic achievements.