girl tops SEA

TOPS: Siri Vadlamudi reacts after being taped top SEA pupil. Photo: DEXTER PHILIP

A pupil of the Grant Memorial Presbyterian Primary School in San Fernando has topped the country at the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examinations.
The name was kept a closely guarded secret until shortly before 9a.m when Education Minister Anthony Garcia, and Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan arrived in San Fernando.
At 9.48a.m Garcia named Siri Vadlamudi as the top pupil. She will be attending the Naparima Girls High School.
Vadlamudi's parents are from India, and her father is a medical doctor.
The child told reporters she wanted to thank God and her teachers. 
Siri, who said she felt 'okay' after writing the SEA, said she wants to be a doctor.
About 18,849 pupils across Trinidad and Tobago who wrote the Secondary ­Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination will get their much-anticipated ­results today.
Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan also said the top three SEA pupils will be named. All three top schools are from south Trinidad.
On June 17, Education Minister Anthony ­Garcia said the results would be published, and those parents who didn’t wish to have them published could request they be withheld by writing to the ministry.
A small number of ­parents had made the ­request, he said.
In a release yesterday, Garcia cautioned anxious parents: “Your response to your child’s results will dictate your child’s self-esteem and the way they view their results.
“If the child feels as though they have disappointed their parents, that feeling can transcend the results and be transferred into the attitude the child carries into their new school.
“The SEA is a placement examination and will not dictate how a child will perform in the next five years.
“A seed, once nurtured, can bloom and thrive in some of the toughest environments. The nurturing at this time is the support of parents.”
Parents should be able to collect results from 9 a.m. at the respective primary schools after principals collect their school’s packages at the Education District Offices.
Source: Sunday Express, June 28 2019.