CXC® 2024 Top Award Winners Shine in Saint Lucia
Top performing students in this year’s May – June CXC® regional examinations will illuminate Saint Lucia this Thursday night at CXC’s 2024 Top Awards Ceremony. Fourteen students hailing from Grenada, Jamaica, The Cooperative Republic of Guyana (Guyana) and The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago) have travelled to the Eastern Caribbean island to be recognised for their achievements in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination® (CAPE®), Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate® (CSEC®) and Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence® (CCSLC®) examinations.
This year’s Most Outstanding Candidates Overall in CAPE® and CSEC® examinations, Aniyah Couchman and Dave Chowtie, respectively, both hail from Queen’s College, Guyana. The accomplished students will also receive awards for Most Outstanding Performance in Natural Sciences and Humanities, respectively. Aniyah achieved Grade I in 20 subjects and Grade II and Grade III in one subject each. Dave achieved Grade I in 25 subjects and Grade II in 4 subjects.
The awardees arrived in Saint Lucia on 1 December 2024 for 4 days of activities, hosted by the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training of Saint Lucia. The students and members of the CXC® delegation made courtesy calls to Honourable Philip J. Pierre, the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia and Honourable Shawn Edward, the Minister of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training. The tour also included visits to the sulphur springs, a number of secondary schools, media interviews and a tour of Pigeon Island.
Each year, the event is hosted in one of the CXC® participating countries. The week of activities, sponsored by CXC® and hosted by the local Ministry of Education, is an opportunity for the students’ individual enrichment, cultural exchange and for the students to build friendships with each other. The initiative brings regional relationships and cooperation in to focus.
On their final day in Saint Lucia, the visiting students will take to the stage to accept their awards in a variety of categories. Each student receives a trophy and monetary award or tangible prize from CXC® or sponsors. Honourable Philip J. Pierre, the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia will deliver the feature address while Honourable Shawn Edward, the Minister of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training of Saint Lucia, Dr Marcia Potter, Deputy Chair of CXC® and Dr Wayne Wesley, Registrar and CEO of CXC® will deliver remarks.
CAPE® awardees in attendance at the event include Alexei Aqui, St Joseph’s Convent, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago – Most Outstanding Candidate in Environmental Science, Khadine Rambert, Holy Faith Convent, Penal, Trinidad and Tobago – Most Outstanding Candidate in Information & Communication Technology and Noella Brown, Montego Bay Community College, Jamaica – Most Outstanding Candidate in Humanities, sponsored by Hachette Learning. Charlotte Hadeed of St Joseph’s Convent, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago won the award for Most Outstanding Candidate in Business Studies, sponsored by ACCA, however she was unable to attend.
The top performers in CSEC® examinations in attendance include: Chitra Parbhu, Saraswati Vidya Niketan School, Guyana – Most Outstanding Candidate in Sciences; Asiyah Karim, I.S.A. Islamic School, Guyana – Most Outstanding Candidate in Business; Venisha Lall, Anna Regina Secondary School, Guyana – Most Outstanding Candidate in Technical & Vocational; Nataliah Castillo, St Joseph’s Convent, St Joseph, Trinidad and Tobago – Most Outstanding Short Story; Abigail Ramdhanie, Bishop Anstey High School, Trinidad And Tobago – Most Outstanding Candidate in Visual Arts (2D); Rizwana Abdool, A.S.J.A. Girls’ College, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago – Most Outstanding Candidate in Visual Arts (3D); Rishav Persad, Naparima College, Trinidad and Tobago – Most Outstanding Candidate in Principles of Accounts, sponsored by ACCA and Shanoya Morgan, St Andrew High School for Girls, Jamaica – Most Outstanding Candidate in History (Menezes-Rodney Award), sponsored by the University of Guyana.
The Most Outstanding students in CCSLC® examinations hail from Grenada. Most Outstanding Male, Yêshûwa Douglas of Presentation Brothers College and Most Outstanding Female, Udia McKay of St Mark’s Secondary School, will also be in attendance to receive their awards at the ceremony.
Special awardees will also receive sponsored prizes in separate presentations at a later date. These include the award for Most Outstanding Candidate in CAPE® Mathematics, sponsored by RM Education, to Vishal Pooran, Presentation College, Trinidad and Tobago, the Eric Williams award for Most Outstanding Candidate in CAPE® History to Nicholas Abreu, Our Lady of Fatima College, Trinidad and Tobago, the award for Most Outstanding Candidate in CSEC® Agricultural Science (Double Award), sponsored by the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, to Carlana Alexander, St Rose’s High School, Guyana and the Professor Wilma Bailey award for Most Outstanding Candidate in CSEC® Geography to Zaria Ifill, St Joseph’s Convent – San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago.
Following the ceremony, students and their parents will attend a reception hosted by the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training. The CXC® Top Awards Ceremony will be aired live at 7:00pm (AST) on www.cxc.org/cxctv.
