Under normal circumstances, students write the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) at the age of sixteen or seventeen. However, oftentimes many young people face situations that either push them out of school altogether or delay their sitting of the CSEC examinations – this was the case with Tinishe Bourne.
Tinishe Bourne
However, Bourne’s story brings a sprinkle of inspiration to teenage mothers and school dropouts who may need a little encouragement when confronted with hurdles that might force them out of school.
Tinishe is 30-year-old and sat the 2020 CSEC examinations where she gained passes in eight subjects (5 Grade 2s, 3 Grade 3s). While scores of students share the same level of success as Tinishe, hers was remarkable given the peculiar challenges she faced and overcame as a school dropout.
She was a student at the Golden Grove Secondary School in her teenage years. However, she failed form one, then form two, but was subsequently promoted to form three. But after being labelled a “dunce,” she dropped out of the school completely at form four.
My mom took me and carried me to Barbados to attend the Community College. I then spent almost a year over there; they denied my visa, and they sent me back to Guyana and said that the subjects I want to write there, I can come to Guyana and do it. So when I came back home, I did not go back to school.
After returning to Guyana, she could not write the examination as she found out that she was pregnant. In 2018, Tinishe returned to school at the Institute of Business Education (IBE) as a full-time, 4th form student despite being a mother of a nine-year-old and a four-month-old.
Tinishe Bourne
While in school, Tinishe confessed that she was ashamed to sit in a class with children she was twice older than, but pushed on and kept her eyes on the prize.
According to Tinishe, she kept her eyes on the prize when her mother was hospitalised. What was even more challenging is when she lost her 4-month-old baby.
When he took his first breath, and he took his last breath, it was very hard for me to get over it, and it was very challenging. I can remember dropping out of form four, and I was home for a period of time because of the depression.
She further added that the most arduous thing she has ever done in life was holding her motionless baby in her hands and then returned to class the following day. She posited that it was something she had to do in order to make life easier for her almost teenage son.
The high school dropout hopes her success story reaches the ears of the many other school dropouts who are battling with negative thoughts, demotivation, and lack of empowerment to make the best of their situation.
She dedicates her passes to her son Decquan and her fiancé Henry Mc Donald. Tinishe aspires to be a Registered Nurse and is hoping to attend nursing school soon.
