Rosignol Secondary breaks regional record at CSEC

Rosignol Secondary School on Friday hosted its annual graduation ceremony which celebrated the remarkable performance of its students at the last Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams.
This year, the school produced the top student for Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), Savitree Ramlochan as well as five other students who each attained eight or more Grade Ones. This is the most the region has ever attained.
Head Teacher of the institution, Janice Britton De Aubreu, who leads 38 other teachers, revealed in her annual report that more than 10 subjects recorded 100 per cent passes and that the overall pass rate was 90.5 per cent.
Feature speaker, former Education Minister Priya Manickchand congratulated the students, parents and teachers, as she gave an overview of how Rosignol Secondary became one of the best schools in the region.
Upon assuming office as Education Minister, she stated that she learnt there were no A-List Schools in Region Five and all the children who did well were forced to travel to other neighbouring regions to further their education.
With much thought and aggressive action through investments, the Rosignol and Bygeval Secondary Schools were brought up to A-List standard. New labs were built and old ones refurbished. Additionally, all materials for the laboratories were procured. Enough text books for individual children were provided and adequate furniture delivered. A full and trained staff complement and heavy monitoring and evaluation were built into the programme, and much more was done to make the school one that could positively impact the lives of the children who would be placed there after their National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examination.
In 2013, the school’s matriculation rate was 19 per cent; this year, that figure increased to 71 per cent. Manickchand said this remarkable outcome was the direct result of vision and innovation with commitment that were all driven for the children who the school was meant to serve.
She said the good results were predicted as it was a certainty that investment in education always paid off once it was accompanied by political will, dedicated teachers, and interested parents.
However, the former Education Minister cautioned that those gains could easily slip away with the students being victims if there was not constant attention and effort to meet the challenges that they faced.