Graduates advised to grab opportunities

The San Fernando TML (Trinidad Muslim League) School held its 2004 graduation ceremony yesterday at Gulf City Auditorium with the theme “The World is in our Hands.” Emphasising on the theme, feature speaker Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, the Chaguanas Mayor, said he agreed that the world is in our hands, but there was more to it than that. “The ability of our children to grasp the opportunities which undoubtedly exist depends on the extent to which they are mentally and intellectually prepared to take on the world, to identify opportunities, and to access the wherewithal to take advantage of these opportunities. This preparation is a partnership between the home and the school, between the teacher and the student,” he told the hundreds gathered for this graduation ceremony. “Far too few parents are putting in the required effort in this partnership,” he added.

He believes that too many parents are still seeing school as a custodial environment instead of a developmental one. He urged students to think about graduates who are about to enter the world of secondary education, advising them to take advantage of  opportunities to gain an education that would give them entry to the world of work or university. “How prepared are they for a world where they would face students prepared to ‘tax them,’ to take away their pocket money? How prepared are they to deal with sexual promiscuity in the schools?” he asked. The Chaguanas mayor urged: “We must change the perception of our students about their capacity for success by communicating messages about their possibilities, and as well work to change the perception of the status of the junior secondary schools. Our children must not start at a disadvantage,” he said. Acting TML principal, Camille Hosein, gave a report on the school’s achievements for the academic year.