After months of awaiting the release of the 2021 Primary Exit Profile (PEP) results, Friday (July 16) was an equally anxiety-filled and heartrending day for Summer Clarke and her mother, Dr Shelly-Ann Whitley-Clarke.

As anxious as they both were to learn once and for all which secondary school Clarke would be transitioning to, come September, the possibility that she would not be placed at her preferred school remained a lingering fear.

As the clock stroke, 1:59 pm on Friday, and with her daughter’s school of choice appearing on screen, Whitley-Clarke could not contain the tears of joy that demanded her release.

Speaking with Our Today, she relayed: “I was on the site from quarter to two. I logged in (early) just in case the site crashed and at 1:59, boom! There were the results, I was so excited that I started crying.”

Overcome with emotions at the news that her daughter had successfully been placed at her first school of choice, The St Hilda’s Diocesan High School in St Ann, Whitley-Clarke called her daughter to notify her the results were finally out.

She said: “I called her and said ‘Summer, your PEP results are here’. She’s like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so nervous.”

After initially expressing to her daughter that she had not in fact been placed at her school of choice, a statement which was met by silence on Summer’s part, Whitley-Clarke relented, stating, “Summer, mommy is just joking. You were placed at your first choice,” an announcement which was met by much excitement from Summer.

“Oh my gosh mommy, I’m so excited I could run to Kingston and back,” responded Summer.

“I never imagined I would have cried,” proclaimed Summer’s mother, “but it’s like a milestone… . This is like a major transition and I never thought I would’ve been this nervous, but now I’m extremely excited. Yay!”

In a release on Friday, the Ministry of Education noted that 84.44 per cent of this year’s PEP students were placed in one of their preferred schools, while 11.58 per cent of students were placed in secondary level schools that are in proximity to the schools they currently attend and a further 2.09 per cent were placed manually in secondary level schools in proximity to the address they submitted at registration.