Dear Editor,
The students, parents, and educators in the Marian Academy family have much to be proud of, humbled over, and thankful about its 2018-19 CSEC report card. The high bars set on discipline, focus, and effort all assisted in maintaining the institution’s outstanding record of performance and achievement in these annual academic measurements of how it has done, and where it stands. A selected look is taken at this year’s report card.
First, the numbers kept pace with that of previous years. They speak for themselves, and some extracts from the official report are worth sharing. The overall pass rate (Grades 1-3) for the school was 95.58 per cent, with 100 per cent passes in 18 out of the 26 (69.23 per cent) subjects offered. A little more analysis of some of the numbers behind the overall number helps to pinpoint areas of particular excellence. A perfect passing rate (100 per cent) was registered in the coveted, and considered difficult, subjects of English A and Mathematics; the same 100 per cent was scored in Biology, Geography, and Information Technology, and in the business disciplines of Economics and Principles of Business. In an entity that emphasises values and virtues, and spirituality (regardless of denominational attachment), a pass rate of 100 per cent was also noted for Religious Education. The school reports 264 Grade 1 passes (41.64 per cent) of which 129 were distinctions.
Second, some other subjects, long regarded, if not feared, as being more demanding and shrunk from, produced heartening numbers. Though slightly less than the sought after 100 per cent pass rate, Additional Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics were very well represented, and the school looks forward to attaining the elusive perfect mark.
Third, and now moving away from the numbers, which only tell part of the story, there are some other points that are tabled in public in the hope of stirring contemplation. Any set of numbers is only as good as the raw materials and what is done with that usually immature, unready, callow and, sometimes, unwilling and unready cohort. In others words, the numbers are a reflection of the caliber of students (with all their pluses and less than those), as well as the corresponding quality of the instructional effort of teachers entrusted with the responsibility of grooming the immediate present at hand for the future that is way out there. It has to be a mutually reinforcing and mutually sustaining society.
For certainty, as I can attest, and as is characteristic with students and teachers everywhere, there are those who deliver as a matter of routine and individual commitment. Those are on autopilot and are shoo-ins for garnering stellar returns from effort invested. At the same time, in this very real and youthful world of energy and resistance, enthusiasm and nonchalance, the authentic and heavy-duty story of performance and outstanding success is that difference made for those who could have fallen to the margins and hobbled themselves. Put differently, the proof is in the pudding, where that extra adult effort to give that additional push towards that greater interest and greater confidence brings the great joy of numbers like those that the Marian Academy report year after year. They just don’t happen out of thin air, or resignation to the whims and escapades of charges, or through sloth and indifference to the obligations owed. The opposite hold true.
Teachers have to be in position, on guard, and committed towards the maintenance of excellence. Similarly, parents cannot just pay money and retreat in smug satisfaction that their duty is done. While administrators are saddled with the thankless task of insisting upon the alignment of interests and visions of all three components: students, stewards, and parents, applaudable results are only forthcoming when every shoulder is at the wheel, and nobody cuts a corner; it is only when the three elements are of one mind that the numbers come. In this year, and today, the Marian Academy community is in a position to celebrate that harmony.
Separately, there has been continuing rejoicing (not without justification) over the record national passing percentage(s) that became public last week. My point is that, though an encouraging place, so much more could be done if the educational stragglers (and careless) are nurtured and mentored some more, then more can be squeezed. What is put in is what comes out as finished product; and this holds across the board: children and parents, students and teachers. And all the while, those in charge cannot be locked up in their offices, tell themselves that all is well, and leave the rest to fate (and the now customary follies)
Editor, now that my little aside is over, my objective is to exhort all concerned, wherever located (in the proving grounds of either private or public educational institutions), to set the stage and do so now. Time is still favourable to this society as it readies for its destiny. That is, to seek to instill the seriousness, to exemplify the steadfastness, and to possess the sweep of vision that should, and would position well, at the individual and collective levels, to grasp fully and to move purposely to take ownership of that with which this country has been blessed. There was occasion to emphasise these messages earlier during a “Career Day” presentation. The hope is that some things have stuck.
To the family of the Marian Academy, I commend you for doing well. The challenge now is to build upon what has been erected, both with those moving on to the next levels, as well as those waiting in the wings to match, if not surpass, the blessings from above enshrined in this year’s CSEC numbers. Congratulations and best wishes to all.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
