Confidence in the public school system

— Reg. 2 NGSA top student refused private education

DPI, Guyana, Saturday, July 13, 2019

Following her major accomplishment at this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), 11-year-old Venisha Lall has refused her father’s offer to attend a private institution to begin her secondary education.

The simple, yet incredibly talented lass of the CV Nunes Primary School in Anna Regina on the Essequibo Coast, is one of the students who tied for the top position at this year’s NGSA.

Venisha “lives like a princess”, according to her mother Radikha Lall, who confirmed that Venisha was offered the opportunity to attend a private institution on the coast, but refused the offer made by her father.

Venisha Lall of CV Nunes Primary refused her father’s offer to attend private school. She topped the 2019 NGSA examination.

With 501 marks Kareem Baksh was awarded the St Joseph’s High School, he will instead be attending the ARMS.

Three of the school’s five top performers. Gevasha Cyndoharpaul [left], Venish Lall and Pradesh Dwarka. They will be attending the Anna Regina Multilateral School instead of Queens College.

The CV Nunes Primary School.

With 532 marks, Venisha has been awarded a place at Queen’s College. However, she has opted to spend her five years of secondary education at the Anna Regina Multilateral School (ARMS). All the other top performers of her school, including her best friend Gevasha Cyndoharpaul will also be attending ARMS as well.

Located at Cotton Field, ARMS has been produced outstanding performances at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) for decades. Most recently, its performance has been nothing more than stellar. In 2018, Shakira Bholo copped 21 passes at the CSEC examination. The school has also recently benefited from renovation.

Venisha’s outstanding performance at the public school is a testament to the transformation the Coalition Government has been making within the education sector. The top spot of 532 marks was shared with Dave Chowtie, of the Graham’s Hall Primary, another public school on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD).

Education of the nation is extremely important to His Excellency, President David Granger. According to the Head of State, it is the most important public service the government can provide to its citizens. His vision for the sector can be seen in the hefty sums invested annually in the National Budgets for the past four years. He revealed recently that the government has invested over $172Billion over the last four years; more than it has spent in any other single sector.

“I feel that the government, over the last four years, has been able to raise a large part of the student population out of the danger of becoming what I call ‘NEETS’ (Not in Education Employment Training); so, we have fewer failures, fewer dropouts, more children are doing well in Mathematics,” The Head of State said, following the announcement of the 2019 NGSA results.

“It is a good lesson. It means that the government’s programme is working to get children off the streets and into the school and I am confident that the amount that we have invested in education has started to pay dividends and we will do better in years to come,” the Head of State continued. 

The Education Ministry’s Maths Camp initiative has also added to the improvement in performance in all ten administrative regions at the NGSA, and according to Chief Education Officer (CEO), Marcel Hutson, this initiative is among many others programmes the ministry has been exploring to improve the sector.