Regional first place history winner Shelly Ann Marcano says it is disappointing that more scholarships were awarded for the subjects of social studies and humanities.
Marcano was speaking with members of the media yesterday at Bishop Anstey High School East and Trinity College East (BATCE) Annual Scholarship Awards ceremony at Trinity Central Road in Trincity.
Marcano, who graduated from Form Five in 2015, told the audience it was disturbing to see the number of scholarships were awarded to Natural Sciences and Mathematics students.
“Whereas as students in the field of social sciences and humanities were awarded significantly less. It just show where society is today and it shows who and what we value in society.” She said a social science student works just as hard as those in other subjects.
“I believe it is a lot harder to pass a social science subject than a natural science subject, if you look at the merit list history it had six students with one.
Marcano said she was not awarded a scholarship. She said she felt disappointed and hurt.
“Its not only that I placed in the history in the Caribbean, it is not about me and all social science students. It is something that is persistent through and students in the field of Natural Science and Mathematics always get first preference when it comes to scholarships. Students in the field of social sciences and humanities get discouraged and we are treated as students that are not important,” she said.
Marcano is a student at the University of the West Indies. During the ceremony, she told the students that she studied for the History exams and when the day came of the exam nothing she studied for was on the paper.
“I was in shock when I saw my name on the top of the list. Two minutes into the exam I walked out. I was nearly in tears and I had to pray. I walked out because nothing I studied was on the paper,” she said. She said she took the opportunity to remember conversations with the teacher, fellow students and what was studied during the term.
Danicia Solozano, 19, an Open Scholarship winner in ICT, did Mathematics pure, physics and computer science.
“I studied very hard and people always saw the potential in me to get it.” Solozano said she did not do extra lessons but took the knowledge from her teachers.
“I am taking a year off at the moment. In the future I will start to go study abroad and study actuarial science which is risk and financial assessment for insurance companies or maybe the economy. It is difficult to get a job with the economy. I am mostly visiting families and taking the time and prepare myself for the next step in life,” she said.