Michael Bhopaul remains the Guyanese student with the largest number of Grade I passes—16—at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), Shanomae Milling of St Roses High School has been able to secure a total of 17 Grade I and II passes over the two years of the programme.
Milling obtained Grade Ones in 12 of the 17 units she wrote.
A press statement from the Ministry of Education yesterday sought to “apologise for the anomaly” which saw Milling excluded from the list of top performers made public. It went on to state that Milling was the 2019 top student for the examination in Guyana. Milling earned 11 passes at this year’s examination, including nine Grade I passes and two Grade II passes, while Bhopaul earned eight Grade I passes.
CAPE, however, is a two-year programme whose top performer is identified based on the criteria set out regarding the presentation of the Dennis Irvine Award.
The award, established in memory of Dr Irvine, who was the second chairman of the Caribbean Examinations Council, is presented to the top overall CAPE candidate who has attained seven units at Grade I over a period not exceeding two years.
Among the detailed criteria established for the award is the total number of Grade Ones attained including Grade I passes in Caribbean Studies and Communication Studies.
Stabroek News reached out to the Examinations Division of the Ministry of Education, which confirmed that it is the council that announces the top performer based on results across the two years that make up the programme.
“We can only indicate the subject attempted and Grades attained,” a representative of the division indicated.
Based on information released by the ministry, Bhopaul secured 16 Grade I passes over the period 2018-2019. The Units written include Caribbean Studies, Com-munication Studies, Integrated Mathematics, Applied Mathematics Units 1 and 2, Biology Units 1 and 2, Chemistry Units 1 and 2, French Units 1 and 2, Pure Mathematics Units 1 and 2, Physics Units 1 and 2 and Spanish Unit 1.
Milling has been able to secure 12 Grade I passes in Caribbean Studies, Applied Mathematics Unit 1, Integrated Mathematics Unit 1, Biology Unit 2, Chemistry Unit 2, Environmental Science Units 1 and 2, Physical Education and Sport Unit 2, Physics Units 1 and 2 and Pure Mathematics Units 1 and 2.
The 18-year-old earned Grade II passes in Applied Mathematics Unit 2, Biology Unit 1, Chemistry Unit 1, Communication Studies, and Physical Education and Sport Unit 1.
In total, the St Roses High student has secured 17 passes with Grades I and II over the period 2018-2019.
Speaking with Stabroek News, Milling said she was never aiming for the Irvine Award.
“I was hoping for the Presidential award, so I can get the scholarship offered to any university of my choice,” the budding doctor explained.
She said that while the exact criteria for the award remains unclear, she has been told that it is offered to the first and second place students at both CAPE and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exam and it allows them to study whatever they wish, wherever they wish.
“I really want to be able to study wherever I wish,” the excited student shared, before adding that she is currently contemplating the University of the West Indies as well as several universities in England.
Her hope is to one day specialise in obstetrics and gynecology.
“I am intrigued by the field…I love babies and think looking after women like myself will be really, really cool,” she shared.
Milling expressed gratitude to the entire staff of the St Roses High School, her extra lessons Math teacher Mr Carryl, her family including church family, friends and God, without whom, she said, she would not be in this position.
“Set your goals and go after it. Don’t worry about the hardship and hurdles, just go after it,” she advised.
In total, 880 candidates from 10 secondary schools and five private centres wrote CAPE in 2019. Of that number, 93 per cent were able to secure Grade I to III across 61 units.
