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Music in Schools Praised for GSAT Success

Published:Thursday | August 13, 2015 | 10:49 AM
Contributed
Dr Lorna Thompson (third right), education officer with the Ministry of Education, accepts a trophy from Ricardo Christie (second right), business development officer, First Global Bank's Montego Bay branch, on behalf of the staff at the Bickersteth Primary and Infant School in St James, during the school’s recently held Award of Excellence ceremony. Sharing in the occasion are (from left) Nyon Granville, teacher; Caroline Fender, First Global Bank; Vivian Douglas, principal; Levon Brissett, past student and guest speaker; Kayla Clarke-Stephenson, education officer; and Marlon Williams (right), senior education officer.

WITH THE start of the new school year in September, a group of students from the Bickersteth Primary and Infant School in St James will be among those starting those starting high school.

The school's administration and students are beaming with pride because, for the first time in the institution's history, 21 students have passed their Grade Six Achievement Test with marks in the high 90s and 100s.

An elated principal Vivian Douglas has attributed the students' success to their involvement in the First Global Bank (FGB)/Ministry of Education (MOE) Music, Perfect Pitch for a Sound Education Programme.

Bickersteth Primary was one of six primary schools in which the music literacy programme was started in 2011, through a collaboration between the bank and the ministry.

"This is welcoming news to the First Global Bank family. All the reviews we have had about the programme over the past four years have been positive, but this is the most positive of them all. We are immensely pleased and encouraged to do more for the nation's children," said Courtney Campbell, the bank's CEO.

Added Douglas: "The grade six students who took the 2015 GSAT were among the first to benefit from the First Global Bank music project. We can say it has enhanced the teaching/learning environment, resulting in passes in the Grade Four Literacy Test."

He stated: "Our grade six students have performed exceptionally well, 17 excelling to traditional high schools and four for the Knockalva Technical High School. We have benefited tremendously from the music literacy programme.

Meanwhile, education officers in the Ministry of Education, Dr Lorna Thompson and Marlon Williams, have collectively endorsed the FGB/MOE Music Literacy programme in schools and have committed to the ministry's continued partnership.