With the stage set for the 2026 Ju­nior So­ca com­pe­ti­tion fi­nals, Ed­u­ca­tion Min­is­ter Dr Michael Dowlath has promised the event will be a safe zone for stu­dent per­form­ers.

Speak­ing at yes­ter­day’s of­fi­cial draw to de­ter­mine their per­for­mance po­si­tions, Dowlath con­grat­u­lat­ed the 22 fi­nal­ists rep­re­sent­ing 11 pri­ma­ry schools and nine sec­ondary schools.

He em­pha­sised the val­ue of school Car­ni­val pro­grammes, say­ing the min­istry is com­mit­ted to in­vest­ing in cul­ture through the ed­u­ca­tion sys­tem.

“The Min­istry of Ed­u­ca­tion re­mains com­mit­ted to en­sur­ing that our school spaces, in­clud­ing cul­tur­al events, are safe, se­cure and sup­port­ive en­vi­ron­ments. Our safe and se­cure school frame­work is not just a pol­i­cy. It’s a promise to par­ents and guardians that their chil­dren can ex­press them­selves cre­ative­ly in spaces that pro­tect their well­be­ing,” Dowlath told par­ents and oth­er stake­hold­ers.

“We are work­ing close­ly with school ad­min­is­tra­tors, safe­ty and se­cu­ri­ty per­son­nel, and event part­ners to en­sure that our stu­dents are safe while they shine.”

The 2026 fi­nals will be held at the South­ern Acad­e­my for the Per­form­ing Arts on Feb­ru­ary 10.

OR­DER OF AP­PEAR­ANCE

Pri­ma­ry School Fi­nal­ists

Josi­ah Wal­lace – Diego Mar­tin Gov­ern­ment Pri­ma­ry

Aza­vier Charles – St. Patrick New­town Girls’ RC

Xhaiden Dar­ius – Savonet­ta Pri­vate School

Ai­jah-Marie Williams – Cedar Grove Pri­vate Pri­ma­ry School

Celebrit-T Charles – Low­er Mor­vant Gov­ern­ment Pri­ma­ry School

Amayah Wal­lace-Aniebonam – CTS Col­lege On­line Pri­ma­ry

Liam Welling­ton – Long­denville Gov­ern­ment Pri­ma­ry School

Ky­mani Hec­tor-Kalloo – St. Pe­ter’s RC Pri­ma­ry School

Adi­an­ka An­drews – St. Joseph Girls’ RC

Alex­ia Adams Alex­is – St. Barbs Gov­ern­ment Pri­ma­ry School

Omari Mc­Don­ald – San Fer­nan­do Boys’ RC

Sec­ondary School Fi­nal­ists

Lennesha Bai­ley – Bish­ops Anstey High School, Port of Spain

Takiyana Fred­er­ick – East Mu­cu­rapo Sec­ondary

Ray­lan Green – CUC

Nathaniel Came­jo – Pre­sen­ta­tion Col­lege, Ch­agua­nas

Zachary Ran­some – Pre­sen­ta­tion Col­lege, San Fer­nan­do

Dar­i­on Mc­Don­ald – Pre­sen­ta­tion Col­lege, San Fer­nan­do

D’Ashe Saul – Bish­ops High School, To­ba­go

Mar­cus Mc­Don­ald – Pre­sen­ta­tion Col­lege, San Fer­nan­do

Synara Lee – East Mu­cu­rapo Sec­ondary

Joshua Duprey – St. Mary’s Col­lege

Ja­lessa Lazarus – Pres­i­dent Col­lege