CSEC-5 student Nankumar tests the voltage while teacher Malcolm James watches over him.
SOUTH REWARD--The first group of Milton Peters College (MPC) students will sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) electrical and electronic technology final examinations this year.
“When the SVOBE [School Board for Secondary Education – Ed.] organisation decided in 2016 to add an English educational programme to its comprehensive school package, the well-known CXC [Caribbean Examinations Council] programmes were a logical choice,” SVOBE schools innovation coordinator Saskia Kliphuis said on Wednesday.
“Furthermore, there was no school in St. Maarten that offered Technical CXC, whereas MPC was well-equipped with the necessary materials, tools and classrooms to be able to do so.”
The first group of students who started in the CXC stream in 2016-2017 are now in their final exam year. Nine of the students opted for the Technical Studies package which, next to general subjects, consists of physics and the electives information technology (IT), technical drawing and industrial technology/electrical and electronic technology.
While working on their school-based assessments on voltage, students Dashaun, Nankumar and Joan explained that their technical stream prepares them well for their aspirations after high school of becoming an architect, electrical engineer or an IT engineer. “They like the fact that their education is not only theory-oriented, but that it is also very much hands-on,” Kliphuis explained.
Their teacher Malcolm James agreed with these students. The students have to create a business plan, draw a house plan with circuits, do the actual wiring and build a cell phone charger. Technical colleges require completion of either physics or electrical and electronic technology, and the MPC students do both subjects.
The three students can show whether their technical knowledge meets the required standards when they sit their final CSEC examinations in May/June.
“Despite the obvious COVID challenges, the three students are optimistic and full of hope,” Kliphuis concluded.
