Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

Cleopatra Charles hugs her daughter, Kristi Charles, after she was presented with the Ministry of Education's Excellence Scholarship at the ministry's central Kingston offices. In the background is Timothy Charles, Kristi's father. Her parents brought the ministry to court and won the case. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Kristi Charles, the child who was denied a Scotiabank Jamaica Foundation Scholarship for her performance in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) last year, has now been granted $1.4 million towards her Harvard college fund.

Kristi, who received the highest grades islandwide in the 2007 GSAT, was not recommended for the Scotiabank award when the Ministry of Education claimed there was a possibility she could have been exposed to the test paper.

Court battle

But yesterday, after a month-long court battle with the child's parents, Education Minister Andrew Holness presented Kristi with the Ministry of Education's Excellence Scholarship, valued at $205,000 per annum over seven years.

Kristi's mother, Cleopatra Charles, told The Gleaner yesterday she planned to save or invest the money as "Kristi wants to go to (Ivy League United States College) Harvard to study medicine".

Charles brought the ministry to court in February after it claimed there was a possibility the student might have seen the test paper which was allegedly leaked to the homework centre she attended.

Justice Bryan Sykes ruled against the ministry, saying its actions breached the rules of natural justice and that there was no evidence the student had been exposed to the paper.

"Unfortunately, last year we were not able to recognise and celebrate the high performance of Kristi Charles who in fact scored the highest grades in the GSAT examinations," Holness said yesterday during the presentation ceremony, held at the education ministry's head offices in Kingston.

Holness said the Excellence Scholarship was an equally good award to give to Kristi as "somebody else already holds the title for last year, so we had to find an appropriate title that communicated the excellence of her performance".

The education minister said the GSAT examination was perhaps the most important examination in Jamaica, adding that for many parents the test determined the life outcome of their children.

"Increasingly, the exam is becoming more challenging and whenever we discover high excellent performances, we should recognise and celebrate those performances," Holness said.

Thanks for the support

In her response, Kristi, a student at Campion College, who is currently on the honour roll, said she was elated. She thanked her teachers at Sts Peter and Paul Preparatory and her parents for the support they gave her over the years.

"I had to work very hard in order to receive this achievement. Usually, I would stay up all night, working even on Christmas day, so it has really paid off and I feel really happy for this moment," she said.

Kristi's scores for the GSAT were 100 for mathematics; 98 for language srts; 99 for social studies; 98 for science; and 12 out of 12 for communication task.

He father, Timothy Charles, said he was very satisfied with the gesture made by the education ministry.

"Initially we felt down because we wondered what had happened, (but) we are very happy for this moment," he said.

The Ministry of Education conceded that it made a mistake when it decided against recommending the Scotiabank Jamaica Foundation Scholarship. The Supreme Court is to assess damages today.

petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com