Twelve secondary school students who took part in the third Caribbean Organisation of Tax Administrators Essay Competition were on Friday honoured by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), the Ministry of Education and the Caricom Secretariat.
A release from the GRA said that the first, second and third place essays were submitted by Nyana Evans, Hema Ramdass and Kenny Bisnauth respectively. Evans and Bisnauth are from Queen’s College while Ramdass is from the Abram Zuil Secondary School. The other participants were Calisa DeFlorimonte of Queen’s College, Dorielle Retemyer of Bishops’ High, Deon Allen and Ryan Jagnarine of Bladen Hall Multilateral, Mahendra Phagwah and Nigel McPherson of Berbice High and Amella Shaw, Uvannie Roopram and Anjelie Karamchand of Rosignol Secondary School.
The competition was held under the theme `The Tax Administration plays a critical role in my country’s development. How can I use Information and Communication Technology to enhance my country’s tax administration’s capabilities so as to generate greater resources for national development’.
GRA Commissioner-General Khurshid Sattaur was quoted in the release as urging the students to “continue working hard to ensure a successful future for themselves and Guyana” and never to settle for mediocrity.
In her address, Enid Bissember, Deputy Programme Manager, Economic Development Policy and Research, Caricom Secretariat called on the students to continue doing research. She noted that Guyana placed sixth in the regional leg of the competition and that “based on the quality of research and writing skills demonstrated by the participants she believes that in the ensuing competition that ranking will improve greatly”.
