Top SEA students in the Diego Martin Regional Corporation district awarded

TWENTY past students from every public primary school within the Diego Martin Regional Corporation district were on Thursday celebrated for their excellence in the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA).

The children were honoured at the end of the corporation’s statutory meeting held at the Point Cumana Regional Complex.

Speaking at the end of the ceremony, chairman of the corporation Susan Hong said sports and education ought to be celebrated as it is a vehicle that can take children out of a life and crime and poverty. She added that the children should be celebrated for bringing joy to their communities.

She told Newsday that her hope for next year is to receive sponsorship to fund the event at a larger scale. The awards ceremony was spearheaded by Councilor for Chaguaramas/Point Cumana Akeilah Glasgow. Glasgow is head of the Community Development Social Services and Decentralisation Committee under the corporation.

“This is the first time we are having this, it was something that were had been planning for some time and wanted to do sooner but it did not materialise. The children are from the 10 electoral districts and they are the top SEA students for each school. Before school re-opened we had a back to school drive and this is just a follow up to that because apart from the plaque we also gave the children back to school supplies. I really want to thank Councilor Akeilah Glasgow who was in charge of the committee that was responsible for this.”

Glasgow, told Newsday that 763 students benefited from the back to school drive with some of the children receiving their complete book list. She reiterated the importance of education and the purpose behind the awards is part of developing the community and encouraging academic excellence. When asked if this was just an election gimmick as local government election is due soon, Glasgow said no adding that her committee have been doing back to school drives since entering office in 2016 and the awards is just an extension of that. She to hopes that the awards function will be increased in the coming years expanding into other spheres of excellence as well.