The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

TOP students from across The Bahamas were honoured yesterday as the Ministry of Education and Technical and Vocational Training hosted the 2025 National Awards Ceremony for the Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) and Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) examinations.

Students from public and private schools — including strong Family Island representation — were recognised for outstanding academic achievement.

Zanté Ferguson of Queen’s College received the Paul L Adderley Award for the most outstanding overall BGCSE performance in the country and the Carol Hanna Award for best overall performance among independent schools after earning 12 A’s and one B.

Amaya Boodoo of N G M Major High School secured the Marjorie Davis Award for best overall BGCSE performance in government schools with six A’s and one B.

At the BJC level, Raymiro Bain of D W Davis Junior High School was named the top male government candidate after earning nine A’s and one C, while Jewell Clintia Catherine Adderley of H O Nash Junior High School was the top overall government candidate with nine A’s and two B’s.

For independent schools and nationally, the best overall BJC results were shared among four students who each achieved 10 A’s: Taylor Alexis Dawn Arnold of Temple Christian School, Tracy Felicia Johnson of Kingsway Academy, Emma Williams of Queen’s College and Antinique Miller of Nassau Christian Schools.

In the Career and Technical Education category for government schools — determined by total entries and performance in technical vocational subjects — first place in the BGCSE division was shared by C I Gibson Senior High School and Anatol Rodgers High School, while third place went to S C Bootle High School and Central Andros High School.

At the BJC level, first place went to H O Nash Junior High School, second place to Anatol Rodgers High School and third place to Jack Hayward Junior High School.

The ceremony comes months after ministry officials revealed a decline in cumulative A-to-D performance in several subjects — including biology, bookkeeping and accounts, and mathematics — falling below the 50 per cent threshold.

Director of Education Dominique McCartney-Russell previously identified mathematics as an area of concern.

In response, Minister of Education Glenys Hanna Martin said the ministry commissioned a comprehensive mathematics study to assess curriculum delivery and classroom practice.

Mrs Hanna Martin said the University of The Bahamas was engaged in the review and a consultant was hired to examine the mathematics curriculum, teaching approaches and student attitudes, with recommendations currently being implemented.

She said mathematics has been a particular problem for Bahamian students in the system for the past 15 years.

“One of the things they see is there’s a fear of mathematics, sometimes even with teachers and definitely with students. It’s one of those subjects,” Mrs Hanna Martin said. “The approach we take is that every child can learn the fundamentals.”

She also noted that the top BGCSE mathematics performer this year came from a public school — Kevin Williams of R M Bailey Senior High School — who received the subject award in mathematics.

“We seek to ensure even success across the board, public and private, and I was very pleased with that particular award in this country,” she said.

Mrs Hanna Martin also provided an update on the rollout of a new student identification card system aimed at strengthening campus security. She said four schools are near completion, including Government High School and S C McPherson Junior High School.

The initiative will cover 23 junior and senior high schools across New Providence and Grand Bahama, prioritising the highest-population campuses, with completion expected by May.

“I believe it will make a huge difference to the operations on every school campus, particularly high school campuses in this country,” she said.

When the initiative was first announced last June, officials said the new ID system would restrict campus access to authorised individuals, with cards linked to the Ministry’s Education Management Information System (EMIS) and storing personal and academic information.

The move followed widely circulated social media videos showing large-scale altercations on or near school campuses, in some instances involving parents.