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Close to seven thousand primary school students took this year’s primary school examination and less than three thousand of them passed with a grade of C or above. Of that three thousand who passed, 26 were honored with certificates of recognition at a ceremony this morning. The national award ceremony was held at the Holy Redeemer Parish Hall and 7News was there.

Keith Swift Reporting,
The spotlight was on top student was Demi Bellini from Our Lady of Guadalupe R.C. School in Belmopan. This morning when Education Minister Patrick Faber presented her with the Jane and Michael Nembhard Award and a new computer. For the shy student, who changed schools in the middle of the school year, it was all surreal.

Demi Bellini, 2009 PSE Top Student
“It feels official now because I got the awards and everything is just going well.”

Chevonne Parham, Demi’s Mother
“I am proud of course, I am a happy for her because I think she deserves it because she has been working hard ever since, she definitely deserves it. We were in Orange Walk where she did standard four and five in Orange Walk and she started standard six there, she did the first semester there and we had to move back to Belmopan and I was little reluctant to move because I was afraid it would affect her and she was taking it very hard and I was so afraid it would affect her but we had to come to Belmopan but she came here and she did her best and it paid off.”

Keith Swift,
Did moving in the middle of the school year affect you?

Demi Bellini,
“Well it didn’t affect me that much because I adapted well and quickly and I just continued to do the same down here in Belmopan.”

Keith Swift,
Mom what role do you think you played in her success?

Chevonne Parham,
“I think just being for her, motivating her. I can’t say I was there studying with her every night. I can’t take credit for that. I have to give that credit to Demi, she’s been hard at her work and she made herself proud.”

Suraye Solis is from St. Ignatius but she took preparation classes with Demi Bellini in Belmopan. She placed second and won the Mayor’s award.

Suraye Solis, 2nd Place in PSE
“When I thought about PSE in standard four and five, I thought that I would have to stress myself out in order to achieve what I hoped to. However in standard six, I tried to think that it was just another exam and that I could just as good on it as I did on the others. It still remained very important to me and even though I thought if I worked hard I could do well, I didn’t expect to do this well.”

And these three students from three public schools in three different corners of the country did really well. Brigitte Ruby from Orange Walk placed third, Disha Thadnani from Toledo was fourth, and fifth was Angeles Itzab from Corozal. They say their success sends a message.

Brigitte Ruby, 3rd place – Louisiana Gov’t School
“I feel good because private schools usually are supposed to teach harder and government schools are lighter but I know my school did teach hard just like any private school.”

Keith Swift,
You came from a school all the way down south in PG. How does that make the accomplishment feel?

Disha Thadhani, 4th place – St. Peter Claver
“Well first I thought I was going to do good but because they always told us that PG is the underprivileged town and so that brought me down but in the end I guess hard work pays off.”

Angeles Itzab, 5th place – Mary Hill RC
“I feel very proud but sometimes I thought I could have done but I feel good about myself. I thought at least I wanted to place third or fourth but it is really good placing 5th among six thousand children. Coming fifth is a good accomplishment. It doesn’t have anything to do with the school you go to, as you put yourself to what you want to accomplish and I think you accomplish it.”

And the spotlight on these 26 top students, brought to mind the thousands of students who didn’t pass. Education Minister Patrick Faber was honest in his assessment.

Keith Swift,
Are you satisfied with this year’s PSE’s results?

Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
“No I am not. If we look at the results compared to last year there has been some decline but if you look at the results over the course of ten years it shows some consistency in that we’ve have not been performing to the standard, especially as it relates to mathematics. And so it is now the task of the Ministry, along with other stakeholders, because the Ministry cannot do it alone as I have been saying over and over again, the managers, the parents, everybody else who has a state in this examination to put their shoulders to the wheel and see what strategies we have employ to improve these grades.”

Keith Swift,
But what’s wrong, are the students just not getting it?

Hon. Patrick Faber,
“There are many issues and that is exactly what we are going to try to find out. We won’t pretend to know all the answers right off.”

But these students know what it takes because – they did it and there wasn’t any secret to their success.

Demi Bellini,
“They need to know that they are not failures but they need work hard because to get someway in life they need education.”

Suraye Solis,
“My first word of advice to parents of future PSE students is consistency. Your child needs to be consistent throughout primary school. While the extra effort in standard six may pay off for some students, for most students it is slow constant work which pays off.”

Disha Thadhani,
“Don’t be brought down because you are from a place like PG because anyone can do anything.”

Kryston Munnings, Ranked 17th overall
“I studied very hard and some students didn’t really care about this exam and then they didn’t study and I studied. My advice would be to study very hard and keep up the good work that they are doing.”

Demi Bellini,
“To those who might not have passed or did not do as well as they had hoped, the reality is this: the PSE was an important test but failing the PSE does not mean that you are a failure. My advice to those students is to use the PSE as an early wakeup call because there will be other tests and other exams.”

Reporting for 7News, Keith Swift.

Demi Bellini won a four year high school scholarship and she will attend the Our Lady of Guadalupe RC High School in Belmopan.