The Annual Prize Distribution function of D.C.T’s Vasantrao Dempo Higher Secondary School of Arts, Science & Commerce, Cujira, was held on 19 March, 2022 in the AV room of the institution. The Chief Guest for the function was the Trustee of Dempo Charities Trust, Mrs. Pallavi Dempo, while the Guest of Honour was retired former Principal of the institution, Shri. R.N. Sanvordekar.

Speaking on the occasion, the Trustee, Mrs. Dempo congratulated all the meritorious students and their parents for winningaccolades. She stressed that the pandemic has had a crippling effect on the educational sector with the students and teachers having to face the challenges of online teaching. She opined that online teaching had resulted in serious learning deficienciesdue to network and other issues. She called upon the teachers to analyze the students’ performance andensure that these deficiencies areaddressed. She assured all supportfrom the management in this endeavour.

The Guest of Honour, in his address, urged the students to take adversity and defeat as a blessing in disguise to go that extra mile to develop the questioning spirit. He added that one should not run after success, rather should be worthy of it hence hard work, commitment and perseverance are very essential to achieve success.

The meritorious students were felicitated at the hands of the Chief Guest, Mrs. Dempo, Guest of Honour, Shri. R.N. Sanvordekar, the Administrator of Dempo Charities Trust, Shri. Rajesh Bhatikar, Principal, Mrs. Surekha Kelkar, PTA President, Adv. Mrs. Akshata Bhat and Vice Principal, Ms. Minaxi Mudaliar.

The school toppers in the H.S.S.C Goa Board 2020-2021 examination in the Arts stream were Miss. Gauri Tushar Nerurkar, Miss. Amrita Sinha and Miss. Claire Athena Gomes in the first, second and third place respectively. The toppers in the Science stream were Mast. Aloisio Rodrigues, Mast. Saiel Gauns and Mast. Aryan Natekar who stood first, second and third respectively. The first three toppers in the Commerce stream were Miss. Isha Parimal Kulkarni, Mast. Shashank Gopal Sakhardande and Miss. Rosanna Sequeira.

Earlier, the Principal, Mrs. Surekha Kelkar, welcomed the gathering and also presented the annual report of all the academic, co-curricular and sports activities of the school.The school toppers in the H.S.S.C Goa Board 2019-2020 examination were also felicitated on this occasion. In the Arts stream, Miss. Akanksha Sawant stood first, Miss. Rianna Costa stood second, while the third place was shared by Miss. Gayatridevi Bhave and Miss. Sania Mulla. The toppers in the Science stream were Mast. Bharat M, Miss. Snesha Parsekar and Miss. Samruddhi Salgaonkar who stood first, second and third respectively.In the Commerce stream, Miss. Alfiya Khan stood first, Miss. Vaishanavi Sainath Gaonkar stood second, while the third place was shared by Miss. Sable Anthea Nunes and Ms.Kelina Salika Colaco.

The best student’s award for the academic year 2021-22 in the Arts, Science and Commerce streams were bagged by Miss. Tisha Chopdekar, Mast. Gopal Kataria and Ms. Vaishnavi Bhat respectively. The Best Sportswoman was bagged by Miss. Rupal Patel for her outstanding performance in archery, while Mast. Clarence Fernandes bagged the prize for the Best Sportman for his brilliant performance in football. The toppers of the class XI in the Arts, Science and Commerce streams were also felicitated at the hands of the dignitaries.Endowment prizes were also distributed to the students. Retired staff from the Administrative section, Shri. Francisco D’Souza and Shri. Anant Parab were also felicitated at the hands of the Trustee. Teacher, Shri. Sanjay Naik was also felicitated at the hands of the Trustee, for being consecutively elected as Teacher Representative at the Goa Board.

The programme was compered by teachers, Ms. Vanaja Mudaliar, Mrs. Amelia Barreto, Mrs. Sheetal Parab, Mrs. Lina Gad and Ms. Pooja Kavlekar. The Vote of thanks was proposed by the General Secretary of the Students’ Council, Miss. Vaishanvi Bhat. The formal function began with the Ganesh Vandan dance by student, Miss. Veda Pawar, followed by a welcome song by a group of teachers. The Prize distribution was followed by a plethora of entertainment programme by the students.