News

Danika Paul of the St. Martin’s Primary School has been named the island’s top performer in the 2021 Grade 6 National Exams securing an A in each subject.

Minister for Education, Human Resource Planning Vocational Training and national excellence, Hon. Octavia Alfred announced the top five performers at a press conference on held on Monday, 21^st June 2021.

“The top performers in the 2021 examinations were Danika Paul of the St. Martin’s Primary with 4 As, Alianne Toussaint of the Covent Prep, 4 As, Christa George, St. Martin Primary 4 As, Joreb Bercasio, Convent Prep 4 As, and Asia Harrigan from the St. Martin’s Primary with 4 As,” the Minister announced.

Minister Alfred commended the students on their accomplishments, as well as all those who played a part in their success.

“I extend special commendations to those who topped the exams this year. I also extend congratulations to the schools, the principals, the teachers, support staff who collaborated to ensure the right learning conditions to facilitate your success. Your parents played a significant role and I commend them for their commitment to your education over the past years,” Hon. Alfred stated.

The Education Minister went on to note that the Government of Dominica, through the Ministry of Education is committed to the success of each child, and will continue to work towards raising the standards in every school.

“I encourage the Ministry of Education, the Education Officers, the Principals, the teachers and the parents to commit to sending the high realistic standards for improvement in performance and achievement within our schools. The Ministry of Education remains committed to its mandate to provide all citizens with quality education in keeping with our vision that every child succeeds. I again wish to congratulate our top performing students and schools in this year’s assessment.

Meanwhile, Top Performer, Danika Paul stated that she is very excited about her accomplishment saying that it came after lots of late nights of studying.

“I am very excited. I collected a lot of information outside of school. I studied a lot. It was a lot of late nights but it was worth it in the end. I have to give thanks to my mother and my teachers for motivating me to do so well. I would say work hard and rely on yourself for your education,” Ms. Paul stated after receiving the news.

Ms. Alianne Toussaint of the Convent Preparatory, who placed 2^nd in the island, stated that placing second came as an unexpected surprise. She then thanked all those who assisted her in her studying before encouraging other students to work hard if they want to excel at the exams.

“I feel very happy that I came out second on the island. It was very unexpected. It was mainly past papers and old notes that I had. I would like to thank Ms. Bonnie from the St. Martin Primary School. She helped me a lot especially with the composition. I also want to thank my teachers and my parents who also helped me a lot. You just have to take your time and trust in God because it’s not really that hard. It’s really easy when you prepare the proper way so you should just take your time and read through the questions thoroughly,” Ms. Toussaint.

Ms. Christa George of the St. Martin Primary School came in third. She said that her accomplishments are a result of a lot of prayer and hard work.

“I feel really proud of myself. It took a lot of prayer and I did a lot of past papers and long nights of studying. I want to say thank you to my father and my teacher Ms. Bonnie for helping me. To other students, just trust in God and work hard because it really pays off,” she noted.

Mr. Joreb Bercasio, also from the Convent Preparatory School was the only boy who placed in the top 5 at number four.

“I feel great about placing fourth in the National Assessment. I went through all of the National Assessment test past papers as well as all of my text books. I want to thank my teachers, my parents and my friends. They need to study hard and remain calm,” Mr. Bercasio noted.

Ms. Asia Harrigan, also from the St. Martin Primary School placed 5^th in the island. She attributed her success to long nights of studying and support from her grandmother.

“I feel really good. I studied a lot of past papers and pre-common entrance papers from last year and other years. It took a lot of late nights. I want to thank my grandmother and Ms. Bonnie for helping me study. To students preparing to sit the exams next year, study hard because it pays off,” Ms. Harrigan added.

This year, Government awarded sixty-seven scholarships and one hundred and eight bursaries.

Eight hundred and ninety-six students sat the 2021 Grade 6 National Assessment on Thursday, May 27 and Friday May 28 and were tested in Mathematics, Language Arts, Social Studies and Science.