Sarena Razak, of Queen’s College, who earned 19 Grade Ones is Guyana’s top performer at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Edu-cation Certificate (CSEC) examinations.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand made the announcement on Friday during a ceremony at the National Center of Educational Resources Development, at Kingston, where she listed the top performers for both CSEC and the 2021 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).
Razak, 17, of Ogle, East Coast Demerara, told reporters that she got 19 Grade Ones, 2 Grade Twos and a Grade Three. She attained Grade One passes in Additional Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Eco-nomics, Electronic Document Preparation and Management, English A, English B, Geography, Human and Social Bio-logy, Industrial Techno-logy Building, Industrial Technology Electrical, Industrial Technology Mechanical, Integrated Science, Information Tech-nology, Physical Education and Sport, Physics, Principles of Business, Technical Drawing, Textiles, Clothing, and Fashion Technical; and Grade Twos in Caribbean History and Social Studies. She also attained a Grade Three in French. She said that she considers herself to have been a top achiever throughout her life and so she was not surprised at her grades.
“I decided on doing this number of subjects in fourth form. Before COVID-19, I deferred one subject to 2022. I have been working on my own and working online,” she said. She added that studying was not too difficult but it was different due to the blended teaching system. Razak said that she had a lot of help from her teachers and friends. But having multiple different sources of content was a bit confusing. She said that she is satisfied because her grades were similar to what she anticipated.
She added that she hadn’t seen her friends until the exams and that it was both nerve-racking and exciting. She will be studying to become an engineer and she hopes to start CAPE in the coming year. She has taken up karate, swimming, dancing and cricket as extracurricular activities while in high school. She advised persons to take it easy on themselves and get to know what they are capable of and then work towards it.
La Shae Patoir, also of Queen’s College, attained 18 Grade One passes in Additional Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Elec-tronic, English A, English B, Food, Nutrition and Health, French, Geography, Human and Social Biology, Integrated Science, Information Tech-nology, Mathematics, Office Administration, Physical Education, Phy-sics, Social Studies and Spanish.
She said that she enjoyed the online classes because it gave her more time to study and she needed it. She said that she had to study for many subjects she wrote. She said that as she completed one exam, she quickly moved on the next subject to complete her studies. She is currently studying Petroleum engineering at the University of Guyana.
Zaynab Shaffie, of Queen’s College, attained 18 Grade One passes and two Grade Two passes. Her Grade One passes are in Biology, Chemistry, Electronic Document Preparation and Management, English A, English B, Food and Nutrition and Health Technical, French, Geography, Human and Social Biology, Information Technology, Integrated Science, Mathematics, Office Administration, Physics, Principals of Business, Religious Education, Social Studies and Spanish. She got Grade Two passes in Additional Mathematics and Economics.
Shaffie wants to become an entrepreneur and intends to study abroad. She said that motivation is a big factor when preparing for an exam but that it is better to be disciplined because motivation is not easy to have, especially during a pandemic. She said that being away from social settings made it difficult to be motivated and that it was difficult to study but she persevered.
Roshini Samaroo, of Queen’s College, got 17 Grade One passes for Information Technology, Caribbean History, Econo-mics, Electronic Document Preparation and Management, English A, English B, Geography, Human and Social Biology, Information Technology, Inte-grated Science, Mathematics, Office Administration, Principles of Accounts, Principles of Business, Religious Education, Social Studies and Spanish. Samaroo is currently studying for her Bachelors of Economics degree at the University of Guyana and she is studying Accounting at the Cacique Accounting College. The steel pan player said, “I am very elated for this result. I’ve worked hard amidst the pandemic and I would also like to thank God for this opportunity, my parents for providing everything and my teachers and Queen’s College and all my lesson teachers as well, who did a great job”. Samaroo said that one of the main challenges she faced was not being able to be around her friends. But, she said that she spoke on calls with her friends and her sisters, who helped her to study. She advises that upcoming CSEC level students, “Work hard. The longer you study, the better for you. You have to keep striving and you will achieve the results.”
Anuradha Basdeo, of Abram Zuil Secondary School, has secured 17 Grade One passes and two Grade Twos. She got Grade One passes in Agricultural Science (single award), Biology, Chemistry, Electronic Document Preparation and Management, English A, Family and Resource Management Technical, Food, Nutrition and Health Technical, Human and Social Bio-logy, Integrated Science, Mathematics, Office Administration, Physical Education and Sport, Physics, Principles of Accounts, Principles of Business and Social Studies. She also got Grade Two passes in Economics and English B. she said that she is proud of her results and she started revising very early in the day and very late in the night as she prepared for the exams. She plans on doing CAPE and advises that students remain focused and strive for the best.
Other CSEC 2021 top performers are Saraswati Vidya Niketan students Faraz Yassin, who earned 17 Grade Ones and a Grade Two pass, Savitri Mahadeo, who earned 16 Grade Ones and a Grade Two pass, Ronaldo Khemchan and Karuna Lall, who both obtained 16 Grade Ones and 3 Grade Twos, and Roushine Lall, who secured 16 Grade Ones and 4 Grade Twos. Kelly Sankar, of Anna Regina Secondary, who secured 16 Grade One passes and 4 Grade Two passes, was also among the top performers.
CAPE
Meanwhile, at the CAPE level, Daniel Roopchand, of Queen’s College, has attained 10 Grade One passes and a Grade Two for Units 1 and 2 at CAPE 2021. His Grade One passes were in Applied Mathematics Units 1 and 2, Biology Unit 2, Chemistry Unit 2, Entrepreneurship Unit 1, Environmental Science Unit 2, Integrated Mathematics, Physics Units 1 and 2, Pure Mathematics Units 2. He got a Grade two pass in Caribbean Studies for CAPE 2021. During his first year at CAPE, he got a Grade one pass in Spanish Unit 1, Pure Mathematics Unit 1, Environmental Science Unit 1, Biology Unit 1, and Communication Studies. He also got Grade Two passes in Physics Unit 1 and Chemistry Unit 1. He got a Grade Three pass in Applied Mathematics Unit 1.
Roopchand said that he was disappointed when he wrote CAPE first year because he felt as if he could do better. He also noted that there were internal factors at CXC and the Ministry that affected the grades, hence he decided to re-write some units because he refused to accept the grades. He rewrote two subjects: Applied Mathematics Unit 1 and Physics Unit 1. He said his reason for rewriting the subjects was because, “I have a great and deep passion for Mathematics and the Sciences. There was no way that I was going to let that passion down”. He persisted because his goal was to get the presidential scholarship. He explained that he wants to take the burden of having pay for his studies off his family.
He plays the piano and during his free time he would teach students to help them. Now he intends to take a gap year to figure out his next moves. He will write the Scholastic Aptitude Test as he hopes to study abroad. He is considering a career in STEM and engineering. He hasn’t decided on what he hopes to become as yet but he has several options in mind.
Other top performers for CAPE Units 1 and 2, 2021 are Samuel Haynes of Queen’s College, who obtained 9 Grade Ones; Abdul Subhan, of St Stanislaus College, who obtained 9 Grade Ones, 5 Grade Twos and 3 Grade Threes; Jorrel DeSantos, of Queen’s College, with 8 Grade Ones; Alex Abrahams of St. Rose’s High, with 7 Grade Ones and 3 Grade Twos; and Yu Qing Zhou and Alicialall Hiralall, both of Queen’s College with 8 Grade Ones, each.
CAPE Unit 1, 2021’s top performers were Atishta Seenarine of Saraswati Vidya Niketan with nine Grade Ones; Bhedesh Persaud, of Queen’s College who secured eight Grade Ones and a Grade Two pass; Sivnarine Chaitram, of Saraswati Vidya Niketan, who secured seven Grade Ones, a Grade Two and a Grade Three; and Tatayana Pearson, of Queen’s College, who secured six Grade Ones and a Grade Two pass.
