Success Elementary student Solomon Cherai has been named the top student at this year’s National Grade Six Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).
Cherai scored 530 out of a possible 535 marks, just one mark more than schoolmate Shania Eastman, who was the second best performer of the 15,220 students who did the assessment this year.
“I revised hard and late at nights and I feel very happy with my results,” Cherai told Stabroek News yesterday. “I always wanted to go to QC [Queen’s College] because of the outstanding results they come out with at CAPE and CSEC,” he added, while pledging to continue to work hard in order to achieve his goal of becoming a mechanical engineer.
Eastman was “overjoyed” with her performance.
Eastman, who described the examinations as “trying,” did not expect to be the second best student. She credited her mother with helping her. “My mom used to wake me up in the mornings and she created a study timetable for me,” she noted.
“I am just going to live everyday as it comes to realise my dreams of becoming a lawyer,” she added, when asked about her hopes for the future.
Celine Farinha, of Peter’s Hall Primary, gained 526 marks, which was the best performance for public school students. Two other students, Shreya Persaud and Isabella Hussain, both of the Academy of Excellence at Cornelia Ida, in Region Three, also gained 526 marks.
“I had a feeling I would get Queen’s,” said Farinha, who admitted that she “studied hard but I took a little rest.”
Farinha has not put much thought into plans for the future but wants to become a scientist.
6th
Afeefah London, of Success Elementary, Travis Isaacs of All Saints Primary, Bhedesh Persaud, of the New Guyana School, Reanna McCurchin, of St Margaret’s Primary and Timur Singh, of St Gabriel’s Primary, all share the sixth spot with 525 marks.
London said she studied a lot for the assessment, which she described as hard. “I plan to go overseas to study to become a marine biologist,” she added.
Wearing a broad smile on his face, Isaacs said he was elated with his performance and had seen it coming. While Isaacs gained sixth place overall, he is the top student for Berbice. He noted that throughout his primary school years, he has performed beyond the average and was a top student at the National Grade Two assessment. His preparations for the exam were similar to the thousands that wrote his year’s examination, he said, while making reference to the sacrifices he made. He said he had to give up looking at television at intervals, focus on past papers and extra lessons and at the same time revise. The aspiring architect said he is happy to attend Queen’s College and credits his success to God, his parents, all his teachers, family and friends.
Persaud, who wants to be a research scientist, was grateful to all those who were involved in his success: his family, Headmistress Donna Simon and his teachers, especially “Ms Green.” He described teacher Shirley Green as a special person and noted that the diligence, dedication and self-discipline she taught him led to his being able to complete his homework in school, allowing him more time for revision.
McCurchin, who was bursting with so much excitement that she could barely sit, said that she is most proud that of the “smiles upon the faces of [her] Headmistress, teachers and parents.” This makes her happy because she knows she has made them proud.
Her accomplishment is also for herself. “I wanted Queen’s College. I wanted the top school though I will have to transfer to Bishops’ in sixth for so I can do law,” she noted. She said she approached the exams calmly since her preparation, which included practicing on past papers, made everything seem easy.
While Singh said he will miss his friends and his teachers, to whom he is immensely grateful, he was happy with his results. “I wanted to get Queen’s College because it is the top school,” he told Stabroek News.
He said the entire process of preparing for and writing the exams was rather easy for him, except where he was asked to write a composition. “I like Maths,” he shyly explained.
11th
Five students share the eleventh spot with 524 marks. They are: Nicholette Gouveia, of St Gabriel’s Primary, Ismaaeel Bacchus, of ISA Islamic School, Gianni Carpenter, of New Guyana School, Serena Persaud, of Marian Academy and Roxanna Singh, of Enterprise Primary.
Gouveia found preparing for exams difficult because she had to give up her electronic devices. “For me, Math was the easiest subject and Social Studies the hardest, but the entire exams were easy,” she said.
“Today I’m overjoyed because I got my dream school and I know I am on my way to becoming a doctor to help people and I want to thank Ms. Allison, my Grade Five and Six teacher, who made this possible by always working with us and explaining what we didn’t understand,” she added.
Carpenter, who proudly shared that he had gone to no extra lessons, said that he put a lot of effort into attaining Queen’s College. “I would go to all my classes and come home at 5 then study from 5 to 8 then take a break and continue studying from 8:30 to 10,” he said.
He said he has always wanted to help in the development of Guyana and intends to become active in politics and eventually become President of Guyana. He is grateful to his parent as well as his Grade Six teacher, Shirley Green, whom he said was an inspiration to him and her other students.
Serena Persaud was full of praise for everyone from her teachers to her school, her parents, and her grandmother, who was instrumental in making it easier for her to focus on her exams.
She also expressed her gratitude to God for blessing her and helping her to focus, especially when answering the few tricky questions she encountered. She intends to follow in the footsteps of her father Dr Ravindranauth Persaud and become a General Physician/Surgeon.
16th
Nine students, who each scored 523 marks, share the 16th spot. They are: Atisha Seenarine, of Uitvlugt Primary, Samuel Benjamin-Huntley, of Leonora Primary, Shivesh Mohamed, of La Grange Primary, Kaydonna Wilburg, of St Gabriel’s Primary, Kimberly Jonas, Diana Charles, Christel Mangra, all of Success Elementary, Shenay Baksh, of School of the Nations, and Jadyn George, of Mae’s Under-12.
Atisha was heading home from her school at Uitvlugt with her friends when this newspaper dropped in. She was not surprised that she has ended up among the top students in the country. She was always a high flyer, gaining over 90 percent in her tests. Her parents were extremely happy when they got the news and so were her teachers. Atisha’s dream is to become a lawyer.
At Leonora Primary, the modest and well-spoken Benjamin-Huntley said he did his best at the exams and was hoping to perform well. The aspiring doctor said his hard work paid off and that he looks forward to attending Queen’s College.
He did not do it alone though and he said, “First I’d like to thank God, my parents and all the teachers who supported me.”
His teacher, Narpatty Persaud, said she was “feeling very proud; I’m so happy, I’m happy for him… As the teacher, the most I can do is guide them [students].”
Unlike the other students, Benjamin-Huntley was not always a top performer and that was what made him special, according to Persaud. She said he “really worked his way up… he was always a very easy-going, quiet, sweet and loving child.”
The quiet Mohamed, who like many of the other top performers wants to become a scientist, was always a high flyer and his teacher, Shellaun Wickham, was not surprised at his performance. She described him as an “assiduous worker” and said he has made her proud.
Mohamed told this newspaper that he knew he would have done well but he did not expect “to do so well. I expected to be in the top 100 but not in the top 20.”
He expressed gratitude to his teachers, parents and older brother, Satram for helping to make his dream of attending Queen’s College possible.
Jonas was proud of her results. “The preparations were very challenging but I think it paid off,” she said, while noting that the exams were kind of tough. She aims to be a lawyer and she said she will continue studying hard at Queen’s College.
Schoolmate Charles was relieved at her results, given the past success of her family. “I wanted to get Queen’s so bad because all my family members went there,” she said, while noting that she started studying every night one month before the exams.
Charles intends to study medicine in order to become a gynaecologist.
Another Success Elementary student, Mangar also had her sights set on Queen’s College. “The exams weren’t that hard. I would not feel bad about myself because it is what I worked for. I will study hard and after I finish CSEC, I will write CAPE and then go to University to become a paediatrician,” she said.
Baksh, who dreams of being a scientist although she is yet to identify a field, eloquently described her pride in having achieved the “top” school. She spoke of staying up at nights to prepare for an exam that was fairly simple and of how much she will miss her friends and teachers who have all been a great help.
George, meanwhile, explained that she was both happy and sad about being awarded Queen’s College. “I really wanted Bishops’, where I have a lot of colleagues from swimming, but my teachers told me to aim high,” she said.
According to the avid swimmer, the major difficultly with preparing for the exams was that her revision time often clashed with her pool time. The exams, she said, were easy enough to handle.
She expressed gratitude to her teachers, who taught her how to be disciplined and taught her rights as a person.
25th
With 522 marks, 15 students shared the 25th spot. They are Ashlee Jack, of Success Elementary, Lallchan Gajadhar, of Rosignol Primary, Priyanka Ramjist, of Success Elementary, Ayjha Griffith, of Success Elementary, Jada Duke, of the New Guyana School, Joshua Kalekyezi, of Mae’s Under-12, Daequon Burnette, of St Gabriel’s Primary, Duvina Seurattan, of Fisher Primary, Zuri Singh, of St Margaret’s Primary, Tianna Budhram, of Windsor Forest Primary, Andrew Chinnatambi, of St Margaret’s Primary, Narissa Naikram, of Academy of Excellence, Kirtisha Nandalall, of Academy of Excellence, Ashantie Singh, of Academy of Excellence and Ethan Chinapen, of Peter Hall’s Primary.
Like others, Jack was happy and proud of her performance. “I wanted to go to the best school and walk the right path and make my parents and family proud of me,” she noted. She said the preparations were very hard and the exam was challenging and tricky. “I plan to succeed in my life and do very well in my studies to become a heart surgeon,” she said.
Gajadhar said he expected to perform excellently and cop a place among the country’s top students. “When I heard the results, I started to jump! I was filled with joy because my hard work had paid off,” he said.
Gajadhar, who also topped the Mahaica-Berbice region, noted that he found it difficult to prepare for the exams but with the tremendous support from his parents and teachers he was motivated to excel. Like other students, he engaged himself in late night studies and extra lessons, which paid off for him. All that remains uncertain now is whether he would attend the school he secured.
Gajadhar is now preparing for a trip to the US, which is a gift to him from his parents for his outstanding performance.
Ramjist, who wants to become a lawyer, said she did a lot of revision and had a lot of support from her family. As a result, she found the exams easy. She vowed to continue to study hard to make her dream of becoming a lawyer a reality.
For Griffith, preparations for the assessment entailed sacrifice. “I stopped watching television, stopped going on my electronics and stayed up late in the night studying,” she said, while noting that some of the questions in the exams were challenging but most were common sense. “I felt like I could’ve done better and I should’ve started studying from earlier on in the year,” she added. She wants get a PhD in Marine Biology because of her love for animals.
Duke, who wants to be a dermatologist, is excited to be going to Queen’s College to continue a family tradition started by her dad. She was grateful to her parents and teacher, Ms. Green. She also advised that students “should not be stressed out about the exams [instead they should] approach them like any other exam.” This philosophy meant that for her “preparing for exams was not very hard and the exams not very challenging.”
A prospective architect, Kalekyezi said that Queen’s College has been his dream since Grade One, so his accomplishment has made him feel good.
Though he really wanted Queen’s, he did not spend hours studying to the exclusion of all else. Instead, he made sure to keep a “balanced approach… not revising too much nor playing too much.” He believes this approach ensured that he was relaxed during his exams.
He too is grateful to all the teachers who taught him throughout his time at Mae’s.
Meanwhile, Burnette’s mother, Youlanda Gilkes, explained that her family has been celebrating since yesterday since they were sure he had gained a place at Queen’s College.
“The exams were neither easy nor hard, they were challenging,” Burnette said.
For him, the news of his performance was a birthday gift. “Today is my birthday and I feel this is a great present not just for me but for my teachers, who worked with and encouraged me since Grade Two,” he added.
He aims to be an inventor.
The soft-spoken 11-year-old Nandalall said she studied hard and was expecting to do well. Nandalall, who has her heart set on becoming a chemist, thanked her teachers and parents for the support and encouragement.
At the Windsor Forest Primary, Budhram was not there to celebrate her success with the teachers and other students who were very happy. She had undergone a minor surgery for her knee and had gone to the doctor for a check-up, accompanied by her parents when she got the good news.
Budhram aspires to become a paediatrician and said she was very excited about her performance although she had hoped to secure a place among the top 10. She thanked God first and then expressed gratitude to her “parents, teachers and everyone else who supported and encouraged me.”
Her mother, Ronda Budhram said her daughter always studied a lot and was the top student in class from Grade Two.
Chinapen said he had to prepare a lot and sacrifice a lot. “Sometimes I couldn’t even play games, no television and I had to study a lot,” he noted, before adding that he is satisfied with his results. “I figure out something about myself, sometimes I like arguing and so I want to become a lawyer,” he added.
Seurattan of Cullen, Essequibo Coast was excited and kept giving thanks to God for her success. She gained 522 marks. “I knew I would have done well but I was not expecting to do this well. I studied very hard for the National Grade Six Assessment. In the early hours of the morning, I used to be studying. I took extra lessons. My family supported me through it all for which I am very thankful. I have a cousin attending Queen’s College and I’m really excited,” she said. “My goal is to become a medical doctor.”
Taymouth Manor Primary School’s top duo Swasti Saytoo and Christine Richardson were in a celebratory mood.
Eleven-year-old Saytoo from Affiance, Essequibo Coast, gained 521 marks and was very emotional as she expressed her joy at placing second in the region. The child who is aspiring to be an astronomer said that it was a bittersweet moment for her as her father died in April of this year. She however thanked her mother who is a teacher and other family members for supporting her.
Richardson, 11, of Adventure, Essequibo Coast placed third and also secured a spot at Queen’s College and was thrilled when she was told of the results.
“I feel proud of myself and grateful that I made my mother happy. I was expecting to do well.
I studied for lengthy hours and took extra lessons and it all paid off well for me. I want to become a doctor and I will definitely work towards it,” she said.
Other top performers for the region included Aditya Sukhai of Hampton Court Primary School with 516 marks and Shavez Banwarie of CV Nunes Primary with 513 marks.
(Reporting by Thandeka Percival, Dhanash Ramroop, Shabna Ullah, Kenesha Fraser and David Papannah)
