By Prior Beharry
THE Ministry of Education has recommended and President Paula-Mae Weekes has agreed to give two students the President’s Gold Medal for topping the Secondary Entrance Assessment Exams of 2020.
It comes after Ameerah Beekhoo and Aaron Subero both threatened legal action.
Beekhoo was celebrated in October 2020 as the first placed student for SEA. But, Subero, who had placed ninth or tenth according to Minister of Education Nyan Gadbsy-Dolly, had reviewed his English Language writing mark.
After the review he attained full marks in that subject area and he became the number student for the 2020 SEA.
The acting Chief Education Officer Lisa Henry-David then wrote to the parents and schools of both students revoking Beekhoo’s position to second and Subero’s to first.
The letter was withdrawn and the Beekhoo was told that she would still receive President’s Gold Medal at a ceremony on Monday at President’s House.
The parents of both students threatened legal action.
On Friday, attorneys of Freedom Law Chambers, who is representing the interest of Beekhoo suggested that the two students involved should both be given gold medals for best female and male.
And the Education Ministry issued a release on Saturday stating:
The Ministry of Education once again expresses its apologies to the children who were affected by the circumstances surrounding the award of the SEA President’s Medal, 2020. This was in no way intentional, and should not have occurred.
Quite apart from the merits of any proposed legal challenge by any of these students, it is important to recognise that both children will have regrettably and unjustifiably suffered as a result of the conflicting messages they have received.
The subsequent treatment of this issue in the media will have no doubt exacerbated this hardship.
In a situation where two highly performing students have both excelled academically and have been both, through no fault of their own, been promised the highest accolade of the President’s Medal, and have both declared their willingness to share this accolade, as an exception to any earlier practice, this option has been agreed to, as it would conduce to the benefit of both students.
To substantively defend the proposed legal actions threatened by the respective parents could potentially delay any final resolution of this matter which would not be in the best interest of the two children involved.
Going forward there will be a review of this process.
Based on the circumstances previously described, the Ministry of Education has recommended, with agreement from the President, to jointly award the President’s Medal for Primary Education (Gold) and Primary Education (Silver) to the top-performing students at the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) 2020:
- Ameerah Beekhoo San Fernando TML (Gold);
- Aaron Subero Maria Regina Grade School (Gold);
- Anjanaa Dan Trinidad Renaissance School (Silver); and
- Mercedes David St. Gabriel’s Girls RC (Silver)
The Ministry extends its congratulations to all four students.
