Students, parents, teachers celebrate SEA results at a distance

There were shouts of joy and cries of relief from schools across northern Trinidad, but parents, teachers and students kept their distance as they celebrated the results of the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam on Thursday morning.

At the Gandhi Memorial Vedic School, Aranguez, a "drive-through" collection system was introduced so parents could drive through the school grounds and collect the results without having to leave their cars.

Parents and their children visited the school from as early as 8.45 am to collect results but unlike past years, they did not gather in groups for a last hug and best wishes to their friends.

Last year the school produced Sushmita Ramsawak, who placed third nationally in the exam.In 2018, students Saiesh Rampersad, and Jada Ramnath shared second place.

Speaking with Newsday, principal Keshmani Dhaniram-Gosine said while the school did not produce a top student this year, she was impressed with its performance, noting that 14 students scored in the top one per cent nationally.

She said despite the challenges of distance learning, she was pleased with the performance of students and teachers, but called on parents to take a more active role in their children's learning.

"Parents really need to be more supportive of what is happeing in the schools. They need to ensure wherever possible supervision is done of the children's work, Remember, we are not able to actually see the work of every single child on a daily basis, and the problem we are encountering is that parents are not monitoring the way they should.

"We know the problem is tht they are working and they don't have the capability to do so, but children need to become a lot more independent, because that is what online learning is about, developing independence."

Dhaniram-Gosine said she was pleased with the response of parents and the community in sourcing devices for children and thanked councillor John Raphael for his assistance.

Newsday spoke to the top-performing student from the school, Prithvi Lucky, who said she was pleased with the results and grateful for the support and care from her family.

Lucky's older sister Crystal said she did her best to help her with studying.

"I just wanted to be there for her and ensuring she had everything she needs. I wanted to give her my time, because I know she needed the support as well."

Newsday also visited the Nelson Street Boys' RC School, Port of Spain, where students were allowed to collect their results in batches and left as soon as they received their envelopes without gathering on the compound.

Speaking with reporters, principal Frances Gervais-Heat said she was also pleased with her students' performance despite challenges, and commended teachers and parents for working with children.

"Today I'm very proud with the results, and it could have been even better, but with the pandemic I am very proud of my students and I think they are satisfied as well.

"We got a number of boys passing for their first choice: we got an ASJA College for the first time ever, and we're very happy about that; a lot of CICs and QRCs, Woodbrook Secondary, St James Secondary and South East Port of Spain."

Eighty-two students sat the exam at the school.

Newsday spoke to Antonio Mascall, 13, who passed for Success Laventille Secondary School. He said while he was nervous about getting his results, he overcame that with the support of his parents, and was pleased with his results.

"I'm really happy with what I got. I felt the exam itself was challenging, but I got through. The only problem I had in the exam was the mask – how I had to keep it on for the entire thing."

Mascall's father Dalton Mascall said he was pleased with his son's performance and was confident he would go on to achieve in secondary school.

He noted that the financial constraints of the pandemic posed challenges to parents, who struggled to support their families.