MP urges graduating Bethel Primary School students to aim high
Published:Monday | July 21, 2025 | 12:05 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
Dave Brown, the member of parliament for Hanover Eastern, is urging the 104 students who graduated from the Hopewell-based Bethel Primary School in his constituency recently, to set their sights on building on what they were taught as they move to another phase of their educational journey.
“Today marks the beginning of the most important phase of your educational journey. Though this ceremony will reflect on your achievement thus far, it is what is to come that will determine your respective places in our society,” said Brown during the graduation exercise held earlier this month.
The graduation ceremony, which attracted teachers, parents, guardians, family, friends and well-wishers to the school’s auditorium, was an emotionally charged affair as the 59 boys and 45 girls, took the spotlight in what was their last hurrah at the school, where most of them spent the past six years.
Brown used the opportunity to speak to the parents, reminding them that they should pay keen attention to their children as their role in nurturing them will become even more pivotal as they get older.
“Do not get me wrong, the excitement being exhibited today is good, but these students, who are leaving this school will need a lot more than excitement to carry them through high school,” he told the parents. “They will need support and perseverance to assist them to soar to new heights.”
Describing high school life as the gateway to their future careers, Brown urged the students to make the best effort possible to ensure that they are successful in high school endeavours because that will be their pathway to higher education, which will ultimately forge the direction that their lives will take.
Brown further called for the parents and guardians to create a support structure around the students, who will increasingly need support and guidance at home and at school.
“There is no successful student who does not have a strong support system in family home and school. It means the partnership between home and school must be strong for students to be successful,” he said. “Your pretty daughters and sons today will not matter if in two or three years’ time they have dropped out of high school because of lack of parental support.”
Jasmin Beckford-Johnson, the school’s principal, told the audience that of the 104 graduating students, 89 were successful at pathways one and two in their Primary Exit Profile examinations.
“Bethel Primary School is the home of champions. The school is achieving above the norm, despite several handicaps,” said Beckford-Johnson, noting that the school, which was built to house 500 students is now housing 700 students. “We are bursting at the seams.”
The school comprises two administrative staff members; 13 auxiliary staff; 25 teachers; one guidance counsellor; one vice principal, and the principal. Through a partnership with HEART/NSTA Trust, there are also 10 assistant teachers serving at the institution.