Guyana national tops Secondary Entrance Exam in Tobago

REPRODUCED FROM TRINIDAD GUARDIAN

Guyana national Debra Amata has topped the Secondary Entrance Examination (SEA) in Tobago. The 12-year-old Signal Hill Government Primary School student moved to Tobago in 2014 with her parents, who are both medical doctors attached to the Scarborough General Hospital. 

A very outspoken Debra scored 238.298 points and told the media her success was due to her spirituality, parents and teachers

“I prayed, I thanked the Lord for his many mercies and I thank my teachers for preparing me. My parents also allowed me to do extra curricular activities. I did tennis, gymnastics, football. I read a lot of books and I went to Bible study,” she said. Her mother, Dr Vivienne Amata, said her daughter was a well-rounded student and she was very proud of her achievements. She also had a word of advice for parents:

“I am ecstatic. She was very consistent, very disciplined, she worked every day but she was also on the school’s football team, gymnastics and she played tennis so she had a ball, she enjoyed herself. Let the children enjoy themselves... they are still children and this is just the foundation.” SEA teacher Ms Roberts said Amata was a diligent and self-motivated student and the result was no surprise to the staff.

“There are no words to express how I feel. I’m elated, I’m overjoyed and I am extremely thankful,” Roberts said. The second placed student was 11-year-old Shane Telesford, of the St Nicholas Private Primary School, while third place was J'da Nicome, 12, from Scarborough RC. The top three students all passed for their first choice Bishop’s High School.

Speaking to the media yesterday, THA Secretary for Education, Youth Affairs and Sport, Huey Cadette, said Tobago scored better at this year’s examination. He said the number of students scoring above 90 per cent slightly increased this year. He added there was also a remarkable decrease in the number of students scoring in the 30 percentile range and under. He said no student who wrote this year’s examination would be required to resit next year.

Some 836 students sat the exam in Tobago this year.