Sajjad was delighted to be invited to attend the Trinity High School’s annual GCSE Presentation Evening at the University of Manchester’s magnificent Whitworth Hall.
Trinity Hugh School is based near the University and was founded in 1984. It provide a well-balanced, outstanding academic education to students of all faiths and communities of Manchester in a Christian environment. Young people are safe, secure, cared for and happy and are able to develop into articulate, well-qualified citizens of the world.
Passionate about excellence in education, Trinity High gives students the very best start in life with a firm belief that inspired teaching transforms lives.
The school has developed significantly in recent years, the latest addition being the Sixth Form which opened in September, 2016.
Sajjad presented all students in attendance with their GCSE certificates, along with a selection of special awards and subject prizes. A total of 27 ’high achievers’ certificates’ were awarded to students who achieved 7 or more ‘A* – A’ / ‘9-7’ / ‘distinction* – distinction’ grades, as well as 25 individual subject prizes.
Addressing students, parents, governors and teachers Sajjad said:
“It really is a wonderful feeling to be joining you here at Trinity this evening.
“A number of things have struck me about this evening. First of all I have long held the belief that unity is our biggest strength and our diversity is the bedrock of that strength.
“I have seen that demonstrated here today. So all of you who make up Trinity and make it so special, as a Member of the European Parliament for North West England I truly want to thank you all be being so amazing and providing such a fantastic opportunity for these young people - 39 nationalities, 120 different schools feed in to Trinity. You have achieved outstanding status in so many ways. With a sixth form as well so the achievements can continue.
“This evening I saw so many of the science prizes where achieved by our young ladies. For a long time we at Governmental level and at EU level have known that it is an absolute priority area to ensure we have gender balance in our sciences and engineering and you have done that. So I can go back to the boss, the Prime Minister who already said such good things about this school that is already delivering on what our country needs.
“There are one or two things I want to say to all young achievers today. Change is a constant in history. What we recognise today is that we have a pace of change that is increasingly challenging. Sometimes it can seem overwhelming, sometimes it’s very difficult to cope with the speed of that change, but it is a constant in history. For my generation there were to defining moments. As a 19-year-old in 1989 two events happened that completely changed our world.
“One was the release of Nelson Mandela from prison. That challenged societies attitudes to a point well people knew that they could no longer think in regressive ways, the world had changed. The other event was the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. I sat in front of the television in my living room watching people with their bare hands change their destiny and claim for themselves a very different future.
“What they may not have realised is that by taking control of their own destiny and future they greatly enhance the canvas on which a 19-year-old working-class lad sat in blackburn could paint his life story.
“That was my generations opportunity. We came in on a wave of with things opening up to us, moving onto a much bigger trajectory. I no longer had think about England or the UK alone, I had the entirety of Europe for me to go out there and when you are young you are invincible and able to go out there and conquer. Those with the forces that we had to propel us forward.
“Today we are once again facing an absolute pivotal point of change for the United Kingdom and indeed for the entire continent of Europe. Those winds of change bring many many challenges but you are not alone. It is the responsibility of each and everyone of us particularly those in elected office that had been tasked with the responsibility of safeguarding your futures.It is our responsibility to ensure that you’re opportunities are not inhibited in any way.
“I want to finish by recra message that was given to me one day as I was graduating from University. I was very fortunate that one of my political heroes, Roy Jenkins MP , came to present the awards. You may be surprised at a Conservative having a hero like Roy Jenkins - it makes no sense!, He said to us you will go on to do some really wonderful and amazing things with your own professional and personal lives but adopt a cause, be sincere to it, dedicate yourselves to it. You will think that you are giving to that cause but ultimately actually you receive far more than you will give. It’s been a wonderful evening, thank you.”