Salutations to North Eastern College

I was not among those who started on that auspicious day, May 6, 1961, but transferred from St Joseph’s Convent, St Joseph, the following January since it was so much closer to home.

From the very beginning Northeastern set the pace for many others to emulate. Our first Head Girl, Maura Cooseelal and her counterpart Head Boy, Carl St Rose, were afforded almost as much respect as our teachers. How well we would remember our teachers, Mr Ramcharan, Mr Adams, Mr Jones, Mrs Roach, Ms Aqui, Ms Dial, Mr Harroo and Mr Thompson in those early years. They were indeed the “salt of the earth”. The teachers who joined the staff later were awarded the same respect as their predecessors.

Who could forget how proudly the entire school marched military-style in the broiling sun, from Graham Trace along Ojoe Road and through the town of Sangre Grande under the baton of our Principal, Mr Ralph Laltoo (to commemorate our gaining Independence in 1962) That day all of Sangre Grande stood in their shoes and slippers, stared, and applauded!

When North Eastern’s first class wrote the GCE Examinations in 1965, just four years after it first opened its doors, the results were quite gratifying, with almost the entire class acquiring creditable grades. Can one imagine the pride felt by us pioneers, namely Esther Singh, Tyler Ramdenny, Edsel Billingy, Mustapha Khan and Sonny Bedayse both sadly deceased, and this writer?

Those who wrote the following year met with even greater success. Notable among them are Ret DC of Police Winston Cooper, Matthew Toussaint, Sheriff Ali (the first student to have registered at the school), Sandra Jagroo-Ramparas, Jenny-lyn Lambert-Harris, several teachers who became principals, nurses, other policemen of rank and public servants, veritable “Hall of Famers”. Many have followed in our footsteps, among whom are Dr Claudius Fergus, Debra Felix-Thomas and Col. Roland Maundy to name a very, very few.

Since then North Eastern has grown from strength to strength, producing Lorraine Ignacio as its first National Scholarship winner, other scholarship winners, other winners in their own right in other spheres, following in the footsteps of those who set the ball a-rolling 50 years ago.

Eva David-Swain

Sangre Grande