IGCSE students win Cambridge Excellence Award |01 July 2010

One of them, Salma Farook, was ranked top in the world for English literature in the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) exams.  

During the award presentation ceremony at the Adult Learning and Distance Education Centre hall at Mont Fleuri on Friday afternoon, two groups of teachers also received their certificates.

One group completed the second stage of a course in IGCSE English as a second language, led by Cambridge trainer Dean Roberts, while the second group followed training on how to conduct speaking tests in IGCSE English as a second language.

This was led by Kairen Madeleine from the curriculum and assessment section of the Ministry of Education.

The presentation was attended by Minister for Education, Employment and Human Resources Macsuzy Mondon, high education officials, teachers, parents and students.

The awards to the students were in three categories – top students who have excelled in Seychelles, highest achievers and the top 10 in the world.

The first batch of seven students, who came top in Seychelles and gained a high A grade, are:
Mona Mariam Prosper from Belonie secondary school in art and design; from the Independent School Salma Farook in ICT and geography, Anisa Chang Lai Seng in history, Kimber-Lee Lucas in English as a second language and Milun Viral Dhanjee in mathematics; Samantha Ogle from the International School in English as a first language; and Lana Audrey Woodcock from Anse Boileau secondary school in co-ordinated science.

In the highest achievers category – to reward students who have done exceptionally well in subjects which only a few people sit – came Natasha Hoareau in French as a foreign language, Kavinya Karunakaran in French as a foreign language, Ron Roucou in physics and Salma Farook in chemistry. All these students are from the Independent School.

As Miss Farook, who also excelled in geography, was not present at the ceremony, her awards were collected by fellow student Anisa Chang Lai Seng.

The last batch of certificates were presented by Minister Mondon.

Addressing the students before the presentations, the ministry’s director for curriculum and assessment Egbert Benstrong said the success of our students, especially the one who came first in the world, is no small achievement considering the fact that the IGCSE is taken in over 100 countries.

“This goes to show that given the right learning environment and support, our students can compete with the best students in the world,” he said.

He trusts these achievements will inspire and motivate present and future students to persevere and study harder.