CUL DE SAC--St. Maarten Academy sixth form student Maria Prince is the top performer for St. Maarten at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).
Prince was one among the first group of students to sit the regional examination offered by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) in May/June 2015. She attained distinctions in three out of the four subjects she sat – Pure Mathematics Unit 1, Physics Unit 1, and Biology Unit 1.
The results released by CXC on Monday, August 11, saw St. Maarten’s first cohort of 26 students of the CAPE programme achieving 100 per cent pass rates in five of the seven subjects offered by St. Maarten Academy. There were 100 per cent passes in Accounting Unit 1, Communication Studies, Information Technology Unit 1, Management of Business Unit 1 and Physics Unit 1.
There was also 75 per cent passing in Biology Unit 1. Only Pure Mathematics recorded a pass rate of 42 per cent.
Other students who garnered distinctions in the various subjects include Angelica Sooknandan, who achieved a Grade I in Pure Mathematics and Tomori Tomlinson, who copped a Grade I in Communication Studies. Both Sooknandan and Tomlinson along with students Akesha Flanders, Jeffeny Fidel Balthazar, Arion St. Clair, Denzel Romney and Antonia Faucher copped Grades I to III in the majority of their subjects.
“At the CAPE examinations, achieving Grades I-III is admirable, as a pass rate at the CAPE level goes from Grades I-V,” said CAPE Coordinator Roxanne Bloomfield. These results are the first year of a two-year programme and so these students will continue to the second year where they will attain their Caribbean Associate Degree.
The Board and Management of St. Maarten Academy congratulated the students, staff, parents and other stakeholders for their achievement in this first sitting of the CAPE examinations. The Foundation for Academic and Vocational Education (FAVE) launched CAPE in 2014.
Principal Tallulah Baly-Vanterpool said it was the initiative of former principal Shareed Hussain and his team, who approached former Minister of Education Patricia Lourens to make CAPE happen. “We are grateful as an institution, that although there was a change in Ministers, our current Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs Mrs. Rita Bourne-Gumbs continues to support this initiative,” said Baly-Vanterpool.
“I am immensely proud of the performance of our CAPE students and by extension St. Maarten. The Government and our School Board took a leap of faith with CAPE, which offers an alternative to students who are too young, or unable to go abroad to further their studies or university education.”
Additionally, the graduates of CAPE that opt to enter the workforce will be more marketable than a CSEC graduate. The principal said that although CAPE is a new programme, it is the hope that the labour market recognises its graduates for their accomplishments and reward them accordingly. “So as we prepare to start a new year, let us not forget the past, but use the knowledge to build on it and create a bigger and better future. CAPE has been the St. Maarten Academy’s initiative, but it is now part of St. Maarten’s legacy...,” said Baly-Vanterpool.
The sixth form students will now move on to year two to complete their Caribbean Associates Degree, which will put them in a position to be exempted from certain first year courses at college.
St. Maarten Academy’s application period for the CAPE programme remains open until August 21. Interested applicants may visit the academic campus to collect CAPE packages or speak with the CAPE Coordinator for further information. Additional information may be obtained by calling Roxanne Bloomfield at 548-3780, or by email at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , or visit www.stmaartenacademy.com.
