Joy and pride resonated at the San Fernando TML Primary School as 17 top performers of the 2024 Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examinations received special awards for outstanding work.
Delivering greetings at the awards function on Friday, the Ministry of Education’s School Supervisor II Kenny Edwin said the 17 achievers, who set a high academic standard, placed the school as one of the top-performing nationally.
Acknowledging San Fernando TML Primary’s “consistent record of outstanding performance,” Edwin said all 55 students who wrote the examination scored over 50 per cent, with 40 students scoring between 80 and 89 per cent.
He said 13 students achieved scores between 90 and 99 per cent, bringing the school’s average composite score to 239.21, well above the district and national averages.
“Consistency is the key word here,” Edwin remarked, adding, “San Fernando TML is one of the top-performing schools in the Victoria Education District and one of the top-performing schools throughout the entire country.”
Edwin added, “San Fernando TML Primary believes in nurturing compassionate, well-rounded students. While academics are essential, the school goes beyond by focusing on the social and intellectual development of each child.”
Meanwhile, school principal Wahida Mohammed-Narine expressed pride in the accomplishments of her students—this being the fourth year that San Fernando TML Primary School began recognising its top achievers.
She noted that 17 of the 55 students who wrote the exams scored 90 per cent or higher after some students reviewed their marks.
“Among them, 11 placed in the top 200 nationally,” she said, adding that 37 students were accepted into their first-choice schools.
She noted that the school has consistently ranked among the top five nationally for six consecutive years, “a remarkable record of achievement in the Victoria Education District.”
She said the top-performing student, Muhammad Fyzool, secured an impressive fifth-place ranking nationally with a composite score of 258.17, missing the top place by point 76.
Fyzool’s classmates Avery Rahaman and Suri Nobbee placed second and third in the school, respectively.
Mohammed-Narine stated, “Our priority at SFTML is to build around the strategic directions of meeting students’ needs, creating outstanding teachers, and an active school community. We worked towards meeting students’ needs that are centred around intervention and support mechanisms for targeted learners.”
She further advised, “Through strategic planning, teamwork, training and development, enthusiasm, passion, the building of quality relationships with students and families, and engagement with our community, we strive to meet our responsibility.” Expressing gratitude for the support he received along the way, Fyzool thanked the school’s in-house guidance counsellor, Ria Calliste.
“Her advice gave us the ability to stay calm and motivated,” he added.
He lauded his parents and teachers, saying, “They kept me focused and motivated, especially when things got challenging.”
Sonya Ramasir, who placed eighth, said, “Hard work and perseverance were key. Praying to God was also very important to me.”
Second-place student Rahaman echoed the sentiment, saying, “I revised hard and never gave up—that’s what kept me going.”
Standard 5 teachers Imshaz Hosein and Shazara Mohammed attributed the students’ success to a strong partnership with parents.
They encouraged parents to stay actively involved in their children’s studies by following a daily revision schedule and making a study timetable.
