Tobago’s top five 2025 Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) students, along with students who topped the 2024 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) merit lists, were honoured during a ceremony on Friday.
The awards ceremony, titled “Pioneers of Excellence,” was held at the Scarborough Library. Secretary of Education, Zorisha Hackett, reminded the students of the need to continue to represent well for Tobago.
“Excellence, my dear students, is not a one-time award. It is a way of life. It is choosing discipline when others are distracted. It is choosing honesty when others try to shortcut the system, and it is choosing courage when challenges arise, and so this morning as Secretary of Education, Research and Technology, a representative of the Executive Council of the Tobago House of Assembly, I want you to remember this: Tobago is watching you.”
Secretary Hackett also announced a new award titled the Secretary’s Pioneer of Excellence Award. This was awarded to Bishop’s High School student Rachel Liz Ottley, who gained a Grade One in CSEC English Literature at 11 years old while she also prepared for the 2024 SEA examinations.
“This award is created to honour a student whose achievement is so extraordinary, so inspiring that it redefines what we believe is possible, and today we make history with its inaugural recipient, Ms. Rachel Liz Ottley.”
Featured speaker Anthurium Lewis, who recently graduated from Bishop’s High School, Tobago, with twelve Grade Ones, encouraged the students to continue being pioneers at their different levels of schooling.
“The CAPE scholars here today are delving into university-level work, pioneering new depths of knowledge. The CSEC scholars have built a rock-solid foundation, pioneering a standard of excellence for their peers, and the SEA scholars, our youngest pioneers, are boldly stepping into a new world of secondary education, ready to explore, ready to discover, ready to conquer. My advice to you is to continue to shine brightly and don’t for a second consider dimming your light to fit in, or because someone thinks it is too much.”
Teachers and principals of the top-performing schools were also recognised during the event.