A 12-year-old student from the all Saints Primary School copped the top position for Region Six at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).
An elated Renace Gabriel Joseph, who scored a total of 517 marks out of a possible 528 marks, told Stabroek News that she pushed herself to stay focused and to work hard.
Touching on the process of preparing for the examinations, Joseph said she read a lot, did the work her class teacher sent and she had online classes on Zoom with her lessons teacher after physical classes were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking about some of the challenges she faced while learning during the pandemic, Joseph noted, “When you’re doing the classes, you’re not really getting to understand because remember you’re not in the classroom, so the teacher can’t ask if you don’t understand on the board and go it over.”
However, she said despite this she continued to revise a lot in hopes of excelling at the examinations.
“The first person I would like to thank is God, for giving me the strength and to help me stay focused, my parents, all the teachers of my school, especially my Grade Five and Six teachers who played a role in my education, my lesson teacher Miss Shevon and my aunts and uncles”, she said.
Joseph, who said she will consider a career path while in secondary school, noted that she is now hoping to get together with her relatives and celebrate her achievement.
Safiya Tribhowan, 12, of Tain Primary School, secured the second highest score in the region with 514 marks. “I am elated to receive the news,” she said after learning her results.
According to Tribhowan, it took a lot of effort to be home schooled but she pushed herself to remain focused and she studied a lot.
“It was a little difficult, missing out some school work but we had a few extra months, so I used it to study at nights and in the morning,” she explained.
Tribhowan urged students to become more familiar with technology since it is not clear when the pandemic would be over and technology will continue to play a major role in accessing education.
She hopes to one day become a doctor.
Kairon Roopnarine, 12, of Cumberland Primary School secured the third highest marks in the region with 513. “I studied very hard, late at nights and early mornings. I really tried to work hard with my teachers and parents,” Roopnarine said, while explaining that one of the main challenges he faced was not being able to attend lessons. “I didn’t get to go to lessons and that was a big struggle and I didn’t get to go to school as much,” he pointed out.
He said when he received his results he was extremely excited as he always wanted to do better than his brother, who attained President’s College several years ago.
Roopnarine, the son of an Albion Estate field foreman and a customer service representative, hopes to one day become an engineer.
He thanked his teachers at the Cumberland Primary School and his after-school lessons teacher.
Meanwhile, Sohana Bacchus and Dellon Pamaroo, both of Corriverton Primary, tied for fourth in the region with 512 marks, while Usha Indarsingh, of Gangaram Primary, secured the next spot with 511 marks.
