Newly appointed principal of the Henry Fergusson Junior Secondary School says the school has been ranked ninth amongst Junior Secondary Schools country-wide and fifth in the Western Area.
Mohamed Abudu Joaque said, “That is as a result of the school's recent performance at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE)”. He said at the school’s tenth annual speech day and prize-giving ceremony, the best pupil in the BECE class for 2012/2013, Hamza Sesay, scored a remarkable aggregate 10.
He said during that academic year 390 pupils took the exams and 361 passed for Senior Secondary School, 15 made it to the Technical Vocational Schools, 12 pupils passed three subjects and only 2 failed.
Joaque said there were higher percentage passes in Mathematics 94%, Integrated Science 91% and Language Arts 85%.
“Passes in these subjects with such percentages are very rare among schools. I want to give special thanks to the teachers in the all the departments” he said, adding that three years ago the school embarked on a building project but the job had stalled due to lack of funds.
The principal said “the aim of the project is to ensure that the school is able to run a single shift with comfortable classrooms and seating accommodations for the pupils”. He appealed for support so that the structure could be completed.
Guest speaker and former Vice Principal of the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology (MMCET), George Anthony, expressed “satisfaction at the excellent BECE results of the school has achieved over the past years...I want to thank you all for a job well done and ask you all kindly to make a daily improvement in the development of education in this country”.
Anthony emphasized that teachers, parents, pupils and the community should try to develop a second education for the children that should include imparting “the laudable principles of honesty in all their endeavors, respect for authority and regard for the welfare of a community”.
He appealed to teachers to be honest in their intentions, prepare their lesson well and give a good account of their stewardship on the classroom floor.
The guest speaker also warned teachers “to stop the practice of copying copiously from the internet and textbooks and selling them at exorbitant prices to the pupils as pamphlets”.
He said “plagiarism is cheating at the highest and is setting a bad example of lack of honesty and invention to the pupils” and urged the staff to “start being positive and stop complaining about poor conditions and salaries...the teaching profession has always been poor”.
The prizes and certificates were distributed by Mrs. Katie Anthony.
(C) 25 February 2014
