The Jamaica Information Service says Principal of the Convent of Mercy Academy (Alpha Academy), Guyanese-born Mackran Singh, is to receive the National Honour of Order of Distinction in the Rank of Officer (OD) on National Heroes Day, October 17, for his contribution to education in Jamaica.
“To be recognized in this way by this great nation is a very humbling experience. I feel proud and I am grateful to the Sisters of Mercy for offering me the privilege to serve in this noble institution,” Mr. Singh told JIS News during an interview earlier this week.
JIS said that Singh now a naturalised Jamaican, received his tertiary education at the universities of Guyana and Bordeaux in France, in 1974 and 1976 respectively. It said that in 1974, he travelled to France, on a government scholarship, to pursue his Masters Degree in Comparative Literature. He has also done studies in education and business administration.
“I passed with distinction for the first degree, and I was the second best graduating student. I was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Medal and several other prizes for performance at university,” Mr. Singh recalled for JIS with great enthusiasm.
He began teaching at the age of seventeen, at the Sheet Anchor Anglican All Age School in Guyana. JIS said he journeyed to Alpha in 1983, after being recruited by Sister Bernadette Little, Principal at that time, to teach French. He took the job, because he thought Jamaica was an excellent place to live and work in. He was named Principal in January 2001, breaking the tradition of female principals at Alpha.