Baie Lazare P6 cohort of 2020 excel in national exams • Sharah Ameen wins best national overall performer |11 November 2021
The cohort with guests (Photo: Thomas Meriton)
Shifty Sharah Noorul Ameen, a student of the Baie Lazare 2020 P6 cohort, is the best overall performer nationally for the P6 national examinations after scoring 544 points out of the 600 to be scored.
Sharah is among 11 of the 12 pupils of the cohort who scored A* and ‘A’s in several of the subjects they studied. Sharah is also the best performer nationally in French and in science.
Sharah is the only child of Seychellois mother Anne-Madeleine Ahamed Musthafa and Sri Lankan father Noorul Ameen Ahamed Musthafa of Baie Lazare.
“As our only child we have always been there to help her from the very tender age of two years to develop an interest in books, reading and educational games,” said Mrs Musthafa.
“As a young child she was sickly and spent time in hospital and as she grew up she has always maintained that she wants to be a doctor. Growing up she has remained focus on her studies and always scored good grades making us proud. We were not expecting her to do so well but we are really proud of her,” Mrs Musthafa added.
As for Sharah she is overjoyed with the results of her hard work.
“I am really very happy with my grades and at present I am in S1 at Anse Royale secondary. I am adapting very well and getting to know my new teachers and new friends. I am doing good and I am happy and like always I will remain focus to continue to excel in my studies,” she said.
She expressed her heartfelt gratitude to her teachers, management and support staff of the school, her parents and fellow colleagues.
The Baie Lazare primary school welcomed back the group of pupils on Tuesday morning in a ceremony to reward them for their excellent achievements and outstanding performances.
Addressing the pupils and guests who included parents, the chairpersons of the school’s council Danny Agathine and parent teacher association Geva Confiance, MNA for the district François Adelaide, the principal secretary for education services Dr Odile de Commarmond as well as teachers and the school’s different stakeholders and sponsors, head teacher Agnelle Monthy noted that the remarkable performances of these pupils call for great celebration.
“The school acknowledges that as a whole its P6 cohort of 2020 performed extremely well compared to previous years thus the auspicious ceremony is doing justice to the great progress it has made over the years and the success recorded,” she said.
She noted that the success of these pupils would not have been possible without the commitment and hard work of the teaching staff, support of parents as well as the whole school’s community.
“Baie Lazare school is proud to have a supportive council and a PTA which is working hard to instill in all members of the community that education is a shared responsibility,” said Ms Monthy.
She has expressed the school’s heartfelt gratitude to them all and appealed to them to maintain the momentum so that the school can enjoy even more success in the years to come.
The school’s head teacher for four years now, Ms Monthy said the pupils’ excellent performances in the national exams is the result of team work, commitment and a sense of belonging among the school team.
“When I started I felt there was the need for more teamwork in the way to do things and I did my best to bring everyone to work closer together as one team,” said Ms Monthy.
She said among their challenges remain the need to get the commitment and engagement of all parents. But she said the school will continue to work in that direction.
She went on to note that now the school has to work harder, adopt new strategies in order to maintain this great achievement.
“With the challenges of the pandemic, our biggest concern is to ensure no pupils are left behind as 2/3 of the school’s pupils are without internet access and this is a big concern for us,” she said.
For her part PS de Commarmond congratulated the school and the pupils for their remarkable achievements.
She noted that the Baie Lazare school has come a long way and it has been a while since we have not celebrated such an achievement and she commended the head teacher and her team for their hard work and commitment in spite of the difficulties and challenges encountered.
“This group of pupils has proven that no matter what, if we focus on our studies, we will achieve our goal and I want the award recipients to maintain this focus at secondary level. Please think of what lies ahead. You are working with the aim to achieve in whatever career you aspire to take at the end of your studies and this comes with hard work,” stressed Dr de Commarmond.
She reminded the students that at secondary level the context is different with a lot more challenges and the teachers will not be as present to follow them through as a lot will depend on them.
“You have to be very serious, apply yourselves and focus. Parents a lot more will depend on you. While you supported your children at primary level, now you have to strengthen and increase the support you provide at secondary level as it is very easy for pupils to be easily influenced and lose focus,” she warned.
She went on to note that oftentimes pupils who excel at primary level find it very difficult to maintain the same level of performance at secondary level and we often lose the high achievers, something we do not want to see happening with this group.
She has called on the teachers to continue to maintain contact with their former pupils so they can have people they know very well to share their difficulties and seek advice from.
Wilna Felix, one of Sharah’s teachers, presented a short profile of the pupil noting that since she joined the school in 2013 she has been an attentive and serious pupil and the teachers at all levels have enjoyed working with her.
“She has always been determined to persevere, give her best and take advantage of opportunities the school offer and always enthusiastic to take part in all competitions both at the school and national level. She has always remained focused all throughout her studies and never stops asking questions until she fully understands a topic,” Ms Felix told the audience.
Also during the ceremony Four Seasons Resort Seychelles, which is based in the Baie Lazare community, presented the school with a photocopying machine to support teaching and learning at the school.
Presenting a vote of thanks, Sandra Monthy, the deputy of studies at the school noted that the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed schools to migrate to online platforms but although technology should facilitate teaching and learning, it is unfortunate that not all pupils have access to internet and they struggle to study. So in its effort not to leave any pupils behind, the photocopier will be handy in helping those pupils.
The ceremony, which was punctuated at intervals by musical performances by pupils, ended with a musical performance by a group of teachers.
The results of the Baie Lazare cohort of 2020 are as follows:
List of awardees P6 National Examination 2020
- Best overall performer Nationally 2020
Shifty Sharah Noorul Ameen 544 points
- Best French performer Nationally
Shifty Sharah Noorul Ameen 93* A
- Best Science performer Nationally
Tanisha Philoe 98*A
- 2nd Best Maths performer Nationally
Shifty Sharah Noorul Ameen 95 A+
- 2nd Best Science performer Nationally
Shifty Sharah Noorul Ameen 96 A*
- Good performance Nationally for Science
Attapinya Ochenge 90 A*
- Best performer school level for Social Studies
Attapinya Ochenge 89 A
- Best performer school level for Social Studies
Ashlee Confiance 89 A
Marie-Anne Lepathy
