North West Secondary School is a secondary school in Mabaruma, capital town of the Barima-Waini region in northern Guyana.[1] The school was established in 1965, being the only secondary school in the region until the establishment of Santa Rosa school in 1992. The school is run by a local school board, having been led by a headmaster until 2005. Classes originally ran from forms one to five, though changed to transitional classes in 2015 to accommodate a rising population of school-age children in Mabaruma and its surrounding areas.
The school motto is "Excellence: Together We Build." The school song is "Bless This school, Oh Lord We Pray."
The school is located at the Broomes S-turn, near Philbert Peirre Avenue.[citation needed]
The school teaches over 700 students. Prospective students seeking admission are required to have at least 350 marks at their National Grade Nine Examinations (NGNE). In 2005, the school announced a 75% pass-rate of its Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examinations.
In 2018, there were 84 students in the graduating class. There was a marked improvement from 2017, Grades One -Three in English Language went up from 36.3 to 65 percent pass rate, and improvement in mathematics from 13.8 to 31 percent pass rate.[2]
In order to improve education in the region, a three-day entrepreneurial training course was sponsored by School of the Nations (Guyana).[3]
In 2017, the school represented Guyana at the 10th Biennial Caribbean Secondary Schools Drama Festival in Antigua and Barbuda after being selected for their work in the National Drama Festival in 2016.[4]