Five students from Region Six are among the country’s top students in this year’s National Grade Six Assessment.
Rawl Rajaram from All Saints Primary School copped the title as top student for the region with 529 marks.
The other four students came from Cropper Primary, Number 68 Primary and St Therese’s Primary.
Hemanta Doodnauth and Reba Bisnauth, both from Cropper Primary, gained 526 marks and 523 marks, taking the second and fourth positions in the region respectively. Swaleha Khan of Number 68 Primary earned the third spot with 525 marks, while Ameera Ince from St Therese’s Primary gained 522 marks and fifth place in the region.
When Stabroek News contacted top student Rawl Rajaram, 12, via telephone he said that he was very “excited”. He credited his success to his parents and teachers, especially Sir Jagdeo. This aspiring doctor said he used to study late into the nights and early mornings and was hoping to go either to Queen’s College or Bishops’ High but he would take a transfer to New Amsterdam Multilateral. When asked how he found the exam he replied that it was a bit puzzling, especially science. He added that his mother was his motivation to work hard. The overjoyed mother Donna Rampersaud said that her son was always a high flyer in school and thanked his teachers who worked very hard with him. She said she never expected her son to top the region, just the school.
Hemanta Doodnauth, 11, of Albion who attends Cropper Primary, had just gotten home from school on Friday and had no idea that she was among the top students in the country and in Region Six. When Stabroek News broke the news to her she was a bit shocked but said that she was “excited”. Doodnauth said that she never expected to be among the top students in the country. She added that she did not do much studying for the exams as the longest session was an hour and she described the exams as very easy, but noted that social studies was a little tricky. When asked which school she wanted to attend, she said President’s Collage but now she has decided to go to JC Chandisingh Secondary. She added that she would like to thank God, her parents, teachers, grandma and Aunt Sharon for helping her with her success.
Her mother Dorpattie Doodnauth, a teacher at Cropper Primary School, added that she was overwhelmed at her daughter’s success. They expected her to perform well at the exams but never expected that she would gain a top place in the country. Hemanta is the eldest of three siblings.
Eleven-year-old Swaleha Khan told Stabroek News via telephone that she was “very proud and excited” about her achievement. She added that she never expected to achieve a top spot in the country but she was very grateful. She added that she would like to thank God, then her parents and all of her teachers, especially Miss Latchmine Prasad.
She also told this newspaper that she had to quit all the things she loved to do and read her books late at nights with her mother by her side. However, she said that although she aimed for Queen’s College she will attend Tagore Memorial Secondary School. Her mother Bibi Shazeeda Khan said she was very proud of her daughter’s achievement and noted that all the hard work had paid off.
Meanwhile sister of National Spelling Bee Champion Renne Bisnauth now has her own spotlight. Reba Bisnauth, 11, of Albion, Corentyne is a student of Cropper Primary School. Reba said she was very happy about her achievement. She stated that the exam did give her some challenges but it was easy. She said she would sometimes take extra lessons and study hard but never had the thought she would have been a top student in the country. She expressed thanks to her entire family and teachers for helping her. She added that although she passed to go to a school in Georgetown, she would like to attend the JC Chandisingh Secondary. Her parents said they were very happy about her achievement. They said further that she was very confident of earning a place in the top spot for her school but not in the country. However, they added, their children have had a very good foundation from a very young age.
According to reports, Ince from St Therese’s Primary has gone overseas and so Stabroek News was unable to contact her.
