GRAD HEARTBREAK - Trelawny school snubs top student over missed grade nine exam

While many of her classmates celebrated receiving graduation diplomas last month, 16-year-old Khadedra Worrell spent what should have been her graduation day in tears.
The Holland High School student, who said she maintained an average above 80 per cent, served as a school prefect and represented the student body, was not included on the Trelawny-based institution’s graduation list.
Now, she and her mother are questioning the fairness of the decision and are calling on the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information to intervene.
“It was very painful,” Worrell said. “I watched everyone graduate knowing that I worked just as hard. I cried a lot that day.”
According to Worrell and her mother, Nicolene McKenzie, the school said she did not qualify because she did not sit the grade nine electronic document preparation and management (EDPM) examination. McKenzie said the requirement was never provided in writing despite repeated requests.
“When the graduation list came out on June 2 and my daughter’s name wasn’t there, I went to the school the next day asking for the graduation criteria in writing,” McKenzie said. “The principal told me I would get it, but to this day I have not received anything.”
McKenzie also questioned why Worrell was selected to deliver a keynote address at the school’s valedictory service despite being excluded from graduation.
DISCOURAGING AND HYPOCRITICAL
“It made no sense to me. If she wasn’t considered good enough to graduate, how could she be considered good enough to represent the school by giving a speech?” she said.
For Worrell, it was “profoundly discouraging and hypocritical” to be deemed fit to represent the school but unfit to graduate alongside her peers.
Worrell delivered the speech but did not attend the graduation ceremony because her name remained off the official list.
“It represents years of hard work,” she said. “I know nobody can take away my education, but I earned that recognition.”
Worrell, who was named Holland High’s top female grade 10 performer, also served as a sub-prefect, school prefect and assistant secretary of the students’ council. She was recommended by the school to sit eight Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate subjects this year.
The family also alleged that Worrell had been unfairly treated during her time at the school. McKenzie claimed that in grade eight, principal Dayle Evans described her daughter’s locs as “a hazard” and insisted they be covered or removed. Worrell said the experience left her feeling singled out.
The teenager also questioned the school’s reliance on the grade nine EDPM examination, alleging that frequent teacher absences left her inadequately prepared. She said she opted not to sit the exam to avoid placing additional financial pressure on her family.
McKenzie said she reported the matter to the Ministry of Education about two weeks before graduation but never received the promised follow-up.
“I never had the opportunity to graduate myself,” she said. “I worked hard so my daughter could achieve what I couldn’t. Seeing her denied that moment has broken my heart.”
Responding to the allegations, Evans said Worrell was not denied recognition arbitrarily, but did not qualify because she failed to meet the school’s graduation requirements.
Evans said all grade-11 students attend the valedictory service and receive a certificate of attendance, but only those who satisfy the school’s graduation policy are eligible to participate in the graduation ceremony and receive a diploma.
“It is a compulsory subject at grade nine. If you don’t do the subject, have you completed the prescribed course of study based on the curriculum?” Evans said of the EDPM examination.
He said students who miss or fail the exam are given opportunities to complete it in grades 10 or 11, but those who do so in grade 11 are not eligible to graduate that year.
Evans said the policy was approved by the school’s board and communicated to parents through grade nine meetings, printed handouts, a graduation “diet sheet”, and posters displayed across the school compound. He also said he had asked McKenzie to return for a copy of the policy but she never did.
CLAIMS REJECTED
The principal rejected claims that inadequate teaching influenced Worrell’s decision not to sit the exam, noting that about 96 per cent of students passed that year and that no concerns had been raised with the administration.
He also denied describing Worrell’s locs as a hazard or instructing her to cut them, explaining that the previous practice of requiring female students with locs to cover them had ended before Worrell returned to face-to-face classes after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Nothing like that,” he said.
Evans further rejected suggestions that Worrell had been targeted, pointing to her appointment as a school prefect.
“As a principal, I allowed her daughter to be a prefect because her daughter exemplifies the character traits of a prefect,” Evans said.
While acknowledging that Worrell maintained an average in the 80s and was a capable student, Evans maintained that the graduation policy had to be applied consistently.
“It is not that the school is being unfair,” she said. “It is unfortunate that the parent chose that route ... without any form of consultation.”
Evans said the family later exercised the option under the school’s policy to write to the chairman of the board, requesting that Worrell be allowed to graduate despite not meeting the requirements. However, he said the request was reviewed and declined.
Questions were sent by The Gleaner to the Ministry of Education to find out whether any steps had been taken to intervene in the matter and what action, if any, could be taken. However, no response was forthcoming up to press time.
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