After a being referred to the ‘trade school’ in Linden due to his academic shortcomings at Kwakwani Secondary, Jocelyn Arindale ‘Jam’ Morian, 57, never failed another test.
“After failing in Form Four, I was encouraged to move away from academics by my industrial arts teacher Robert Syfox who gave me application form for entry to the trade school. He said, ‘Take this form and tell your mother that secondary school is not for you,’” said Morian, recalling the events that to his enrolment at the Guymine Technical Training Complex, now known as the Linden Technical Institute (LTI).
“The very term I began the apprenticeship, the trade school began to hold open air graduation ceremonies. I saw a girl graduating from the apprenticeship scheme and I said to myself, once a girl could complete this, I will succeed, too. I was determined to successfully complete the apprenticeship. I began to focus on my studies, started getting good grades and after that I just enjoyed learning,” Morian told Stabroek Weekend.
