Principal credits hard work for improved WHS CSEC performance

The Wesley High School

Acting Principal of the Wesley High School (WHS), Hilarion Akpa, has stated that the school’s gradually increasing percentage pass rate at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations is a direct result of the hard work of all stakeholders.

This follows comments by Chief Education Officer, Melena Fontaine, who, in her analysis of the results of this year’s CSEC examinations, on August 15, praised the WHS for steadily increasing its percentage pass rate over the past 5 years, moving from a low of 54.2 percent in 2014, to a present high of 78.9 percent.

Akpa, who has acted as Principal of the school since July 2017, expressed his delight at the school’s performance.

“We are happy, delighted by the results of the CXC exams, and we would like to commend the teachers, the students themselves, and their parents… and the Ministry of Education, whose officials who really helped us this year to do what we are supposed to do, and to go forth with a kind of confidence to the exams,” he told Dominica News Online (DNO), on Friday. “Essentially, it’s hard work.”

He also mentioned the Board of the WHS, whose members “always look out for the interests of the school.”

Akpa gave special acclaim to the teachers for their efforts towards professional development, which has a positive effect on students’ academic performance.

“In 2010, we had only four graduate teachers, and in 2018…between 13 and 14 teachers are graduate teachers in Wesley High School,” he explained. “They are more experienced, and they have improved their education by taking classes… That is taking initiative to do something good for themselves, and they have done it.”

The WHS Principal attributed a certain level of the students’ success to the absence of entertainment on-island, following the passage of the disastrous Hurricane Maria, in September 2017. Nevertheless, he said that this should not subtract from the determination shown by students and their parents.

“This year was a nice bunch of students… good girls, good daughters, good students, and they were conscious about the situation…” Akpa said. “I am sure that the lack of entertainment in Dominica after [Hurricane] Maria contributed to the good results of so many children, but I will not take away the involvement of parents and children in their work. The children have done well, and we have to recognize that.”

Akpa also noted that although the school has a 100 percent in seven subjects, such as Physical Education and Food and Nutrition, there are still some areas for improvement in certain subjects such as Mathematics, French, Civics, and the various sciences.

The CSEC Examinations administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) are the secondary school exit examinations for students in Dominica and the wider Caribbean.

Copyright 2012 Dominica News Online, DURAVISION INC. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.

Disclaimer: The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of DominicaNewsOnline.com and its parent company or any individual staff member. All comments are posted subject to approval by DominicaNewsOnline.com. We never censor based on political or ideological points of view, but we do try to maintain a sensible balance between free speech and responsible moderating.

We will delete comments that:

  • contain any material which violates or infringes the rights of any person, are defamatory or harassing or are purely ad hominem attacks
  • a reasonable person would consider abusive or profane
  • contain material which violates or encourages others to violate any applicable law
  • promote prejudice or prejudicial hatred of any kind
  • refer to people arrested or charged with a crime as though they had been found guilty
  • contain links to "chain letters", pornographic or obscene movies or graphic images
  • are off-topic and/or excessively long

See our full comment/user policy/agreement.

7 Comments

  1. September 4, 2018

    When are you all going to start building the new comprehensive Wesley High School. I have heard that for years and nothing seems to have started. I guess another money problem as always.

  2. Past student
    September 4, 2018

    Congratulations to the students of my alma mater and the entire WHS support team. God’s bessing to you in all your endeavours.

  3. Petro
    September 1, 2018

    Well said Mr Akpa. Congratulations to the students, yourself and all the tteachers and parents. Keep up the good work.

  4. SLU
    September 1, 2018

    Monsieur Akpa, congratulations to you and your teachers. Keeping high school students on the straight and narrow is quite a challenge. I know the girls made you proud. NG

  5. %
    August 31, 2018

    Keep it Up WHS …Aim for the stars.Teachers I shall never forget you all,because you all are the reason behind all this!
    Well Done,and don’t be complacent.

  6. truth
    August 31, 2018

    wow congratulations WHS!!! GREAT SCHOOL. I personally believe they have some of the best teachers. great job students and teachers.

  7. Africo
    August 31, 2018

    I fully support Mr. Akpa when he says that “I am sure that the lack of entertainment in Dominica after [Hurricane] Maria contributed to the good results of so many children, but I will not take away the involvement of parents and children in their work.”

    The lack of TV and other diversions in the months before the students sat CSEC exams focused their attention on their studies and resulted in the overall improvement of scores across all secondary schools in Dominica this year.

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

:) :-D :wink: :( 8-O :lol: :-| :cry: 8) :-? :-P :-x :?: :oops: :twisted: :mrgreen: more »

 characters available