Students from four rural non-traditional high schools in St Mary and Manchester seem ready to ace the core subjects in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams next year.

They have returned to school more confident, having recorded tremendous improvements in their mathematics and English language performances after participating in a series of summer intervention programmes supported by Rhodes Scholars. The data show that some of them are achieving grades of more than 90 per cent after entering the programme.

The initiative in which they participated, TEACH Caribbean, began in 2013 with students from the Mile Gully and May Day high schools. The students have been enrolled in the programme since grade seven and have been receiving support from TEACH Caribbean each summer since. They are coached by a mix of local teachers, Rhodes Scholars enrolled at Oxford University in England, and volunteer maths and English teachers from the participating schools and the Diaspora.

In 2015, the summer programme was expanded to include the Brimmer Vale and Horace Clarke high schools in St Mary with support from the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), which selected the two participating schools from the JN Foundation’s iLead educational leadership programme. Funding was also provided by the Canadian Fund Raising Committee, US Fund Raising Committee, GraceKennedy Foundation, and the Insurance Company of the West Indies.

“The biggest improvement for the students was in English. At the start of the programme the grade for English was 62.8 per cent. At the end of the programme the grade for English increased to 75 per cent,” said Wynette Terrelonge, executive director, TEACH Caribbean, in respect of the Mile Gully and May Day students.

“The grade for maths at the start was 31.6 per cent, and at the end of the programme the maths grade moved to 62 per cent,” she added.

Students from Horace Clarke and Brimmer Vale high schools also showed tremendous improvement, although only being involved in the programme for two years. Their grades in English moved from 30 per cent to 70 per cent, while in mathematics they achieved 67 per cent, up from 24 per cent.

Founder of TEACH Caribbean, Mariame McIntosh-Robinson, says the programme has had a significant impact on the students’ confidence.

“I believe there are students who can emerge as Rhodes Scholars from this cohort,” she remarked, noting that the programme has targeted the schools in an effort to increase support for rural, non-traditional institutions, which receive less assistance than urban schools with similar challenges.

Terrelonge says TEACH Caribbean will continue to support the students in the nine months remaining until the dateline for the CSEC exams.

“I want to borrow the motto of Mile Gully High: ‘Excellence through effort’, and I want to remind students that TEACH Caribbean is the facilitator for their success. TEACH will provide the resources and the expertise to assist learning; however, the effort needs to come from you,” Terrelonge advised at a recent prize-giving ceremony.

Fifteen-year-old Jahmeilea Ogeare, who emerged top girl in the Brimmer Vale and Horace Clarke segment of the programme, with an average of 95 per cent, noted that the teaching style of the Rhodes Scholars assisted her to better comprehend the subjects.

“Miss Mayanka [Mukherji] helped me a lot to understand English language, particularly summary writing,” she explained, her voice a little hoarse after activities during the week.

“And although I’ve always been doing well in maths, Miss Eva Coleman helped me to stay focused,” she added.

Top boy in the Mile Gully programme, and budding pilot, 15-year-old Nicqus Dwyer, is eyeing a grade one score in mathematics. And he is assisting others to achieve a similar grade.

“I try to teach my fellow students what I’ve learned because, normally, what we learn here they teach us after school,” he says. He is confident that he will do well.