Tears of joy and disappointment, screams and shouts of jubilation made up the cacophony of sounds that erupted from classrooms and offices in primary schools across T&T yesterday as thousands of pupils received the results of their Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination. The results were collected by principals around 8:30 am yesterday and distributed to parents and pupils at schools an hour later. At Sacred Heart Boys’ Primary School in Port-of-Spain, boys were busy writing messages on each other’s starched cream shirts in bright neon pink, green and orange highlighters. At another school, these brightly-coloured messages were accompanied by cellphone numbers.
Parents sat on benches outside the school’s courtyard looking forward with nervous eyes. At the Tranquillity Government Primary School on Tragarete Road 12-year-old Sapphya Nicholas sat on a chair with a brown envelope in her hand and cried. She had passed for her first choice of school, St Joseph’s Convent. Sapphya then called her mother who she said was stuck in traffic but disconnected the call a short while later as she could not understand any words between her mother’s excited screams. “I’m shocked,” Sapphya said. “I didn’t think I had done badly but I also didn’t think I had gotten good enough marks to get into St Joseph’s Convent.” She said she expected the school to be strict but was still excited to attend in September.
Like many of her peers, Sapphya couldn’t help but mourn friends she had interacted with almost every day for the past seven years. “I feel sad because I have to make new friends in a new school and I expect it to be challenging.” Veronique De Gannes, 12, will be attending Success Laventille Secondary School in September. “I cried because I was sad and disappointed. “It is probably a good school but I feel like I was zoned. I wanted to go to Providence.” Tirik Crovador, who wants to become an electrical engineer, said he was very happy to have passed for St Anthony’s College. When asked what his plans are for the holidays, he said, “ I plan to revise more, because I have to keep up my standard for secondary school.” In St James, principal of St Agnes Anglican School Lauralyn Alexander-Olivier was busy preparing her pupils for results. “Teachers teach, wherever you go. “It is up to you to do your best at whatever school you pass for, even if it is not what you wanted,” Alexander-Olivier told her pupils.
She said each child was given results in a closed envelope to be opened at their discretion. While some rejoiced and others lamented, most of them were looking forward to the almost two-month long vacation before academic life resumed. One student said she just wanted to party and “fete” until September. Several parents shared their secrets of success with the T&T Guardian yesterday. Florence Warren Scott, mother of Johanna Scott, said raising her child in Laventille did not hinder her from ensuring that her child was successful in the SEA exam. Advising parents of other children, a proud Scott said: “Being from the area of Laventille, I know it is challenging, but show me a parent who cares and you’ll see a child who is producing.” “It is all about what you put in—your dedication and love toward your child,” she added.
She said the Pennacool programme offered online by the Ministry of Education was useful for her daughter. Antonia Dickson-Frederick, mother of Jelani Frederick of Sacred Heart RC, said her child’s success came after years of attention. In encouraging parents to dedicate time to their children, she said: “Don’t leave it to the last year and last minute. “It has to be an going process, starting from the first year of school.” “You have to make sure that they are on top of their work from the time they enter school to fifth standard,” she added.