FIFTY bright-eyed girls and boys, having some of the highest GSAT averages in St Thomas this year, were praised and pampered at the pristine Daphodils in the Gardens, Morant Bay, on Thursday, at the 26th and final staging of the annual GSAT Awards Luncheon.

Hosted under the patronage of Member of Parliament (MP) for St Thomas Eastern Dr Fenton Ferguson, the occasion over the years has been a celebration of academic excellence among students transitioning from the primary to secondary level.

Having started the initiative before his tenure as MP with only six recipients, Dr Ferguson, a dental surgeon by profession, highlighted that the programme has blossomed and borne much fruit for St Thomas.

“This GSAT luncheon is my pride. We have had a programme that has impacted over 1,000 young people over a period of 26 years. We have produced a number of doctors, lawyers, nurses, agriculturalists, entrepreneurs,” he said.

Funded primarily through the Constituency Development Fund, Dr Ferguson noted that close to $200 million had been spent to develop human capital, education and training over those 26 years. This year the programme will be funded to the tune of $8 million.

The awardees received certificates of academic achievement, book vouchers from Kingston Bookshop and a bursary. Additionally, the students with the top three averages also got their names inscribed on the MP’s personal trophy.

But this year’s ceremony was particularly special because it marked the last GSAT awards luncheon, by name that is. And it also presented the opportunity for awardees, past and present, to reflect on the legacy of excellence coming out of the programme.

In an inspiring charge to the awardees, guest speaker and past scholarship awardee Kimberley Thompson emphasised to the audience what such a function meant not just for the families impacted, but also the parish.

“In a parish which is dubbed forgotten, the St Thomas Eastern constituency will be remembered for the indelible effect this awards ceremony and scholarship has had on numerous men and women of excellence. This ceremony demonstrates that excellence in education pays. The success stories are the epitome of this claim.”

Thompson, who recently published her book Watershed, is among a long list of success stories coming out of the GSAT programme in St Thomas Eastern. To date, a total of 1,150 students have been beneficiaries of the programme.

From a national standpoint, St Thomas has been plagued by many problems, illiteracy being one of them. While there have been significant improvements, Dr Ferguson provided some context on the problem, noting that in 1961, St Thomas was the last parish to have a high school.

“We are coming from a history of plantation, and so many of the children were going to field when they should have been in school. It was normal for children to be missing school two to three days a week, almost 60 per cent of school,” he said.

He also noted that, “In the mid-90s, we were seeing where illiteracy was costing the country over $2 billion a year. And so, education is good for everything.”

Ferguson raised the example of 120 students from the parish who did not do so well in their GSAT exams, and were all subsequently placed in non-traditional high schools.

“We are still having issues where some schools are operating with much more resources than others” he said. Here is the breakdown:

• 72 students averaged between 30-49 per cent.

• 29 students averaged upward of 49 per cent

• 19 students averaged less than 30 per cent.

“So you understand that that speaks to a remedial programme for many of those students. But I say to the country, the Government, present and future, we cannot continue this way. We must put our people in a position that there is equality and equity. And equity speaks to having all the necessary resources. You can’t put all the students who are failing in one institution and then the scholars go to Morant Bay. We have to get to a point where all the schools become choice schools,” he continued.

On the other hand, Dr Ferguson noted the strides made in the education landscape, with additional training facilities now in the parish.

“We are happy to know that St Thomas, having been the last parish to have had a high school in 1961, we now have six high schools. I am very happy that we have Excelsior Community College and we have the Paul Bogle Vocational Training Institute.

“All of these opportunities are here now. So there can be no excuse for not improving our educational opportunities,” Dr Ferguson stated.

Speaking in his capacity as the Opposition spokesperson on agriculture, Dr Ferguson also made some connections between the growth, or lack thereof, in the agricultural industry and the level of education among farmers in the parish.

“While not discrediting agriculture, I believe that a spend on education would have meant that, right now, 82 per cent of our farmers would have achieved primary education. So you understand some of the issues we have in agriculture which is a critical area for growth.

“So I see a connection between what we want to get from the agriculture sector, moving towards getting science and technology in agriculture, but also research and development as a critical part of the agriculture sector, looking at the nutraceutical industry, the organic industry. So there is a connection between education and what we do,” he continued.

Dr Ferguson also noted what he said was an unusually high failure rate in the smaller primary schools, which have a low pupil-to-teacher ratio.

“We have schools with a teacher-pupil ratio of 1:5, and at the same time not getting the desired outcomes. No Government present or future will be able to have that kind of teacher-pupil ratio, so we have to ensure that we are getting the outcomes”.

He emphasised that the programme will be continued in the new era of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP), with some special attention on the smaller schools.

In his 25 years of being MP for St Thomas Eastern, Dr Ferguson said he has been unrepentant about investing so heavily in education.

“If there is one thing I want to be remembered for, it is my fanatical support for education. I believe education is lasting and we must continue to support education. When I became MP we could count on one hand the number of medical doctors or lawyers in the parish. We have lost count now,” he said.

The count continues, with another batch of future torchbearers now poised to take the next step on a path of trailblazers gone before them.

Top girl, Theresa Whyte, shared what her achievement meant for her.

“I feel very great. This means to me that my days of hard work and sleepless nights paid off. Going forward, this award will be an encouragement so when maybe I am going astray I can look on them and find back my path.”

Top boy and the Paul Bogle scholar of 2018, Maliki Edmonson, shared his elation.

“I am very happy and excited. I have put in a lot of work and it paid off. And my mommy helped me a lot,” he commented.

Another outstanding awardee, Ayanna Gordon, shared her dream of becoming a pilot.

“When I was at a very tender age, I watched a movie and it inspired me and from that day on I decided I want to be a pilot.”

She will have been one of two women pilots so far from St Thomas.