-Wallisa Roberts is top student
Queen’s College student Wallisa Roberts, who obtained Grade One passes in five subjects, heads the list of outstanding performers at this year’s Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE), according to preliminary results released by the Ministry of Education (MoE) yesterday.
At a media briefing held at the MoE boardroom, Educa-tion Minister Shaik Baksh said that the CAPE results have seen a high pass rate with a marginal decline in pass rates in a few subject areas. Baksh said that he would like to see an improvement in future but was satisfied with the results, noting that the overall pass rate for this year’s exam (87.5%), when compared to the 2008 (87.9%), has seen the rate being maintained.
Roberts, 19, who obtained Grade One passes in Carib-bean Studies Unit 1, Biology Unit 2, Pure Mathematics Unit 1, Chemistry Unit 2 and Environmental Science Unit 2, heads a list of nine Queen’s College students who are among the top ten performers this year. She was followed by Melisa Moore, who obtained Grade One passes in Biology Unit 2, Environmental Science Unit 2 and Pure Mathematics Unit 1 and 2. Other notable performances came from Wainella Isaacs, Makesha Archer and Yana-Marisa Edwards, who all obtained Grade One passes in Biology Unit 2, Environ-mental Science Unit 2 and Chemistry Unit 2. Isaacs and Archer also gained Grade One passes in Caribbean studies while Edwards secured a Grade One pass in Communi-cation Studies.
Speaking to Stabroek News at her Owen Street, Kitty home yesterday, Roberts said that the results of this year’s May/June examination surprised her and “created a few goose bumps.” The aspiring surgeon related that her preparations for the examinations was met with a number of challenges but noted the spirited assistance given to her by her parents provided much needed inspiration. She said she never had a steady study schedule but tried her utmost to have all of her required study material at hand when preparing for the exams. Roberts expressed appreciation to her parents, teachers at Queen’s College as well as her lessons teachers, including Ms Eleanor Jordan, Mr Carryl and Mr Deoraj, all of whom she noted provided much important assistance to herself and classmates. Her advice to students writing CAPE examinations in future is to be cautious when selecting intended subject areas since the workload is very difficult to cover and depends highly on the ability of the student. She said she plans to do volunteer work with relatives in Africa for the rest of the year before proceeding on studies in medicine next year.
When this newspaper caught up with Moore yesterday, the teen was all smiles and explained how surprised and proud she was on learning of her performance. Noting that “hard work and self discipline” contributed to her outstanding performance, the 18-year-old described herself as being self-motivated, explaining that she did not have to make much sacrifices since she always made her academic studies a priority throughout her school life. She said extra lessons in the subject areas of Pure Mathematics and Chemistry played a major role in her success and added that though she studied for long periods, she made getting adequate rest a priority. Moore said that she plans to pursue studies in medicine at the St George’s University in Grenada though unsure of what specific field in medicine she may focus on. Her advice to prospective CAPE students is to work towards whatever they intend to achieve and to be self disciplined. She expressed gratitude to God, her math’s teacher Mr Carryl, Chemistry teacher Ms Jordon, as well as other members of her family.
Isaacs told Stabroek News that the results of the examination were not surprising. She said her success at the examination as well as that of her colleagues was a result of a close friendship they shared at QC, noting that “peers are the best teachers.” She explained that after classroom sessions, she and her classmates would sit and discuss various subject areas and assisted each other whenever difficulties in understanding each subject area arose. The calm young lady said that she will be pursuing studies in environmental and natural resource management at the University of the West Indies, in St Augustine, Trinidad once she meets the requirements. She chose to pursue this field since she grew up in such an environment, and said that in future she plans to contribute significantly towards the development of the environmental and agricultural sector of Guyana. She expressed a heartfelt thank you to almighty God, her parents, as well as her teachers including Mr Deoraj, principal of Queen’s College, Ms Friedel Isaacs and other teachers at school. Her advice to students sitting next year’s CAPE examinations is to “set yourself goals and work towards them,” noting that there are ingenious ways to overcome one’s problems.
Nineteen-year-old Makesha Archer was still trying to come to grips with the results of the examinations when this newspaper visited the young woman at her East Coast Demerara home yesterday. She said she worked hard while preparing for the examinations, adding that her parents were always by her side, even during study periods. Archer, an aspiring gynaecologist, said she plans to pursue studies in medicine at the University of Guyana this September and stated that she believes she could make a significant contribution to the medical field in the future. Recounting her preparations for the examination, Archer noted that she tried to maintain a study schedule – two hours each night – to cope with the large volume of work she had to cover. She said her little sister would religiously wake her at nights around 9 o’clock to commence her nightly study period. The young woman expressed appreciation to God, her parents, teachers and other relatives, with her advice to students preparing for the next sitting of the examinations being “to reach for the moon and even if one fails he/she will always fall on the stars.” She also noted that “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration,” explaining that one could very smart but will always require hard work to be successful.
According to the MoE, 426 candidates from eight secondary schools and two private centres wrote the May/June sitting of the examination: Mackenzie High School, the New Amsterdam Multilateral School, President’s College, Queen’s College, Bishops’ High School, St Rose’s High, St Stanislaus College, St Joseph’s High and the Adult Education Association. The candidates were offered units in twenty four subject areas, each unit comprising three modules which are separately examined and certified.
The results showed 10.36% in Grade 1s and 18.24% in Grade 2s. Grades 1 to V are considered an acceptable standard for matriculation purposes.
