Petrina Francis, Education Reporter
ROMANE WOODBURN of Mandeville Primary and Junior High, and Pooja Gurnani of Mt. Alvernia Preparatory, outperformed their peers in the 2005 Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), copping the Scotiabank awards for the top performing boy and girl respectively.
Nearly 50,000 students sat the examination in March to earn a place in high schools islandwide.
Romane will move on to Munro College, while Pooja will be attending Mt. Alvernia High.
Grace-Ann Francis, a student of Ensom City Primary in Spanish Town, won the J.A.G. Smith Scholarship for the girl with the highest mark from a primary, all-age or junior high school while Rajiv Thompson of Black River Primary and Infant copped the award for the boy with the highest score in the same category.
Kimone Hood of Howard Cooke Primary won the scholarship for the top performer in Cornwall. Loathan Ingram of Ewarton Primary gained the award for being the top performer in Middlesex and Matthew Prescod received the top award for the county of Surrey.
Twenty-eight Government scholarships were awarded this year.
Minister of Education, Maxine Henry-Wilson, said the students performed better than last year, despite the major challenges they encountered as a result of Hurricane Ivan that battered the country last September.
