BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FIFTY-NINE brilliant students of the Federation were honoured for their academic achievement at the 22nd annual Academic Excellence Recognition Awards Ceremony on Friday evening (Jan. 23) at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel and Casino.
The LIME-sponsored initiative was undertaken by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CIC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
The accomplished students and their parents, along with principals and teachers from the various secondary schools as well as Ministry officials and representatives from the private sector, were wined and dined with a four-course meal in the hotel’s conference room.
The awardees were students from the Basseterre High, Cayon High, Charlestown Secondary, Sandy Point High, Verchilds High, Gingerland Secondary and Washington Archibald High Schools, as well as the 2008 State Scholar, Agiel Browne and her Runner-up Azard Gumbs.
National Technical and Vocational Education Scholar Delicia Herbert was also awarded, as were the top 2008 performers in the divisions of Teacher Education, Nursing, Engineering, Construction and Hospitality Studies at the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College.
In order to qualify, secondary students had to amass a minimum of 22 points from their Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations. Under the CIC’s criteria, a Grade I was worth three points while a Grade II and Grade III totalled two and one point respectively.
CIC President Mark Wilkin expressed his pleasure at the fact that the initiative remains the only Federal academic recognition ceremony in the country, and extended congratulations to the recipients and their families.
Minister of Education Hon. Sam Condor commended the students for their “perseverance and dedication to excel” and articulated the government’s appreciation for the recognition ceremony. He challenged students to use their knowledge to make sense of the world and to be the best they could be.
“Use education to appreciate new perspectives and to have satisfaction in applying them. Pursue knowledge to satisfy your curiosity about your environment, the economy, society and life at every level. You must learn to work together and to leverage on each other’s strengths to overcome challenges.
“In a globalised economy, you must aspire to achieve so the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This event, geared towards showing tangible appreciation to young men and women from varied backgrounds, is critical to this developmental process,” said the Education Minister.
He also advised the CIC to widen the scope of criteria for awards eligibility, noting that due to the fast-changing economic landscape, there are additional dimensions to skills and capabilities that are critical to survival in this knowledge-based economy besides relying solely on academic excellence.
Condor concluded by paying homage to the Federation’s teachers for their ongoing contributions to the development of the nation’s children and to their professionalism and excellence that had inspired students to excel.
