NGSA’s best letter writer aspires to be Lawyer

Virendra Dookie, a student of Leonora Primary School, earned 521 marks at the recently concluded National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and was recognized as the Best Letter Writer.

Dookie’s parents are both teachers but he aspires to be a Lawyer.

At the announcement of the 2018 NGSA results on Thursday last, Virendra was also recognized as the ‘Best Writer’ for his outstanding letter written for the English examination.

According to Chief Education Officer, Marcel Hutson, the letter has actually captured the attention of the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC).

Virendra is very thrilled to be among the top 15 students in the country.

“I expected this. I studied very late at nights and woke up very early in the mornings to study,” he said.

His father, Gewan Dookie said he is extremely happy having learnt about his son’s performance. He also said he expected his son to perform well since young Dookie has been consistent throughout his school years.

Mrs. Dookie said that the preparations for the NGSA Exam should not begin at Grade Six but from a young age to ensure a good foundation.

Here is the letter Virendra that won him the accolade of Best Letter Writer:

Dear Mr. Jones,

               I am a pupil of the Leonora Primary School which is on the western side of your house. I am writing this letter of complaint to you about the garbage which you have been burning lately. I hope you know that burning garbage produces smoke which can affect people with Asthma.

Asthma is a serious illness that affects the lungs and can make breathing difficult.

My class which is in the upper flat of the building, there are many Asthmatic persons including myself. Smoke can also develop Asthma in persons who have never had it before. Just recently, a child had to be rushed to the hospital due to a severe Asthma attack.

Secondly, our library is some days completely filled with thick dark smoke. Since our National Grade Six Assessment is right around the corner, we use the library to study. It was a quiet place, perfect for studying, but now the smoke has prevented us from doing so.

Thirdly, this problem has also affected teaching. Whenever you burn garbage, we would have to move to a place free of smoke in order to go about our daily schedule. Moving to somewhere else to work is very uncomfortable to both teachers and children. We do not get to work to the best of our ability and we also do not get to do Physical Education which we look forward to on a weekly basis.

I hope you see how much this is affecting us and I hope you discontinue this practice.

Your Dear Neighbour,

Virendra Dookie of Leonora Primary School.