| Although a mere 11 out of 64 students of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) Secondary School who wrote the 2015 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) did not matriculate,Wholesale Jerseys Cheap, Principal of the school, Swami Aksharananda, is yet concerned.These 11 students did not pass Mathematics and/or English.“While we can boast and say that 82 percent of our students matriculated with English and Maths,wholesale jerseys, all with 11 subjects and more, what about the numbers at the bottom who did not matriculate…That is what bothers me,” said Aksharananda as he assured that every effort will made to look into this state of affairs.According to him, it is rather worrisome that a student can secure a grade one in Mathematics and a grade four in English or grade two in English and a grade four in Mathematics.“This is the kind of contradiction we are looking at…it is not new, but it is there, and we are trying to deal with this,” said Aksharananda, who is worried that the situation prevailed despite deliberate efforts to “give our weak students extra attention.”Swami AksharanandaAnother top performer, Mohanie SudamaSecond best 2015 CSEC student Vamanandev HiralallTop 2015 CSEC student Victoria NajabThis, according to him,Cheap Jerseys From China, includes extra lessons held at the Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara school. Students of SVN are not permitted to attend outside lessons as teachers there are mandated to deliver any needed extra lessons.As part of addressing the failure of some students to matriculate, the way forward that is being contemplated by the principal is to work closely with the parents.And this is certainly not an unusual tactic as according to Aksharananda “we demand that parents come to school whenever we need them. They can’t just drop their children and run off and not come…”He pointed out that while the school would tolerate unacceptable behaviour to a point where it is potentially destructive “we insist that the parents must come in. Our children must know that their children are constantly involved in what they are doing and we feel when children are aware that parents are aware of what is going on, I think it makes a difference.”Moreover, Aksharananda noted that collaborating with the parents of students is one of the most important approaches embraced by the school. He however noted that some parents are reluctant to be involved in the process and often renege on the responsibility, mainly because of their jobs.The Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara School“I would tell them that you brought this child into this world and you have to be responsible for your child’s upbringing; don’t tell me about job…just don’t bring,” asserted Aksharananda. “Sometimes I feel bad about talking to them like that, but it is what we need, because many parents relax; they throw back and just bring their children to school and expect that the school will do magic,NFL Jerseys China,” the principal underscored.He is convinced that his efforts to encourage the support of the parents have been yielding immense success, evident by incremental improvement in the school’s performance.“The improvement has been major, in fact I would say that is the number one thing at our school.”The student population of the school is just over 520 which is complemented by a teaching staff of about 35. Aksharananda noted that while this is not an ideal ratio, the school is currently looking to source more teachers. He stressed, particularly, the need for science teachers. But according to him,Cheap Jerseys Outlet, it has been a difficult task to find local science teachers. As such he noted that the school is looking to source such skilled teachers from India.SVN is a privately-operated Hindu School which was founded by Aksharananda. Its doors were first opened in 2002.Aksharananda disclosed that the decision to open the school was premised on his observation that the education system in Guyana had a strong cultural bias against Indians and the Hindu religion. He qualified his theory by pointing out that when a child goes to school and a teacher is unable to pronounce his or her name it could be a problem in the education delivery process.In fact, he alluded to Chief Education Officer Olato Sam’s inability to even pronounce the name of the SVN school properly during a nationally broadcast programme to announce the CSEC results last Thursday.“He made mention of the name of this school about 10 times and none of the 10 times could he call even the name correctly. He could not pronounce the name of Indian children correctly. When Indian children are forced in a classroom where their teachers can’t pronounce their names properly it affects their self-esteem, it affects their psychology…”Aksharananda asserted.As such, he noted that the intent of SVN was to correct the existing imbalance, whereby students would not have to be ashamed of who they are, since they are able to learn in a friendly, cultural environment.Currently SVN is the lone sixth form school in Region Three. And this accomplishment, according to Aksharananda is linked to the fact that the school has consistently been performing well.“If you look at our performance over the years you would see a gradual trajectory of improvement,” the principal noted. He added that the school producing the top performing student at CSEC this year “was only a question of time.”When the Ministry of Education announced the 2015 CSEC results last week, it was 16-year-old Victoria Najab who was named the best national performer. She achieved 20 grade one passes. Among the other SVN students named among the top performers are: Vamanandev Hiralall, the second best performer with his 19 grade ones and one grade two passes; Mohanie Sudama who secured 14 grade ones and one grade two passes; Hewant Seodat with 13 grade ones, 4 grade twos and 3 grade threes; Parmeshire Ramprasad with 13 grade ones, 3 grade twos and 3 grade three passes; Nashanie Nandalal with 13 grade ones and 2 grade two passes; Patricia Ramsaroop with 13 grade ones, 1 grade two and 1 grade three; Kishanna Gobin with 11 grade ones, 5 grade twos and 2 grade threes’ Parbattee Mohess with 11 grade ones, 4 grade twos and 1 grade three passes; Yasoda Busham with 11 grade ones and 3 grade twos and Bibi Rahim with 11 grade ones and 2 grade two passes.While the common belief is that the school caters to only Hindu students, Aksharananda insisted that the school also caters to persons from other religious denominations and ethnicities. Students, according to him,Cheap Jerseys From China, are encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities which are culturally motivated. |
