‘High Achievers’ flying high

Thursday, 29 November 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Rashika Fazali

The High Achievers Awards Ceremony organised by Edexcel, a Pearson company, and the British Council recognised 80 students for their exceptional results at this year’s International GCSE, International GCSE combination (June 2011 and June 2012) and GCE A/L examinations.

The ceremony held at Musaeus College Auditorium also acknowledged 38 International GCSE and GCE A/L world prize winners and 18 students for achieving the best results in their respective examinations.

Pearson Edexcel India Subcontinent Assistant Vice President Premila Paulraj noted the new addition to this year’s High Achievers Awards Ceremony – the recognition of the Primary and the Lower Secondary students for their performance at the achievement tests. She said: “We introduced this with the intention of a smooth transition from primary to lower secondary to International GCSE to GCE A/L.”

Eleven primary students and 10 lower secondary students were recognized for their excellent performance in the achievement tests. Among these students, two primary students and four lower secondary students received world prize awards in English, Mathematics and Science.

British High Commissioner John Rankin via video stated that he was very pleased to hear how well Sri Lankan students do at UK qualifications. He noted that globally, the British Council delivers around 150,000 exams for Edexcel annually in over 40 countries.

At this year’s examinations, 11 students excelled in the International GCSE combination (June 2011 and June 2012) examinations where one student obtained seven As, two students got eight As, one student nine As, two students 10As, three students 11As and the two other students received 12As.

Excelling at the International GCSE examination were 46 students – 26 students obtained seven As, 11 got eight As and nine students received nine As while 23 students excelled at the GCE A/L examination where 14 students received three As, seven students got four As and two students obtained five As.

Speaking on the British Council’s objective in having such examinations, British Council Assistant Director and Country Examinations Manager Harriet Gardner asserted that they help to create international opportunities and build trust worldwide.

Gardener also spoke about the student’s success on achieving excellent results adding: “Success is not about achieving what we want, but it is also about how it can benefit the community.”

Pearson Education CEO and President Ranu Kawatra pointed out three interesting questions that every student should ask themselves before anything is to be done. He said, “The first question to ask yourself – are you learning? The second question – are you contributing? You can contribute in intangible ways. ] The final question to ask yourself – are you having fun? Fun gets across engagement. Once you engage, you learn and once you learn, you become successful.”

Pix by Upul Abayasekara