Since 25 percent of public high school students didn’t complete their graduation requirements at the end of last school year, they were offered a chance to enroll in summer school for four weeks to earn their diplomas, according to Education, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sharie De Castro.

Most of them succeeded.

Out of 224 students, 56 weren’t able to complete the requirements to graduate at the end of the school year, Ms. De Castro said during a House of Assembly meeting on Oct. 25.

“On close examination of the students’ results, it was noted that the majority of these Grade 12 students were missing one or two components of the graduation requirements — either credits in a subject or subjects, failing one subject for the Exit Proficiency Examination (EPE) or a combination of both,” she explained. “It was therefore determined that running a summer school programme for four weeks for the month of July, where students could have a concentrated time to work on the one or two areas, would be beneficial.”

Open to 11th graders

In the past, she added, only grade 12 students were allowed to take summer classes. But this year, grade 11 students were included, and they were able to use the time to complete a credit or an EPE requirement.

The four-week intensive session began on July 5 for 137 students in grades 11 and 12 from public secondary schools, Ms. De Castro said. There were 101 students from Elmore Stoutt High School, 14 from the Bregado Flax Educational Centre in Virgin Gorda, and 22 from the Virgin Islands School of Technical Studies, according to the minister.

Thirty students enrolled in English, eight in mathematics, 17 in business subjects, 17 in social sciences, 14 in sciences, nine in technical subjects, one in physical education, three in EPE English, and 90 in EPE mathematics, she said.

“I am so pleased to share that because of the summer school programme, 42 of those students were able to successfully complete their graduation requirements and were able to receive their high school diploma by the end of the summer,” Ms. De Castro said. “This included 35 students from the Elmore Stoutt High School, three students from the Virgin Islands School of Technical Studies, and four students from the Bregado Flax Educational Centre Secondary Division.”