Anna Regina Multilateral School (ARMS) students Ramoll Baboolall and Uotam Heeralall are basking in the glow of topping this year’s CSEC examinations and are looking ahead to advancing their chosen path of study.
Baboolall secured 24 Grade One passes and three Grade Two passes, while Heeralall of Affiance Village received 24 Grade One passes and one Grade Two pass. Baboolall, the youngest son of his parents, hopes he can secure an overseas scholarship and says he aspires to become a biochemist. His mother Chaitwattie Nairaine, a teacher herself, said that she is very happy over her son’s performance and described him as a high performer. Nairaine disclosed that her son spent many sleepless nights and is happy that his efforts paid off. While proud of his achievements, Baboolall himself advised those sitting next year’s examinations to remain focused and steadfast.
The country’s other top CSEC performer Utoom Heeralall, son of a market vendor, also said that he is happy with his achievements. He hopes he too can secure a scholarship to further his studies in the field of science. Heeralall said many times he felt like giving up but he nevertheless worked hard to remain focused. Heeralall, who is an active member of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha Essequibo Coast Naujawan, said “I would like to thank my parents for their support, my teachers and all those who had faith in me.”
Another top performer of Anna Regina Secondary, Daniel Dowding of Onderneeming, said that he dedicated lots of his energies towards extra studies and was obviously elated with his performance. Dowding hopes to further his studies also in the field of science and to secure for himself a scholarship. Dowding earned 22 Grade One passes and three Grade Two passes. Chavelle Solomon secured 19 Grade One passes and two Grade Two passes. Regional Chairperson, Vilma Da Silva, said she was very proud of the children’s achievement.
Regional Education Officer (REO), Shondelle Hercules, congratulated all the students and teachers of the Anna Regina Secondary School. The REO reminisced that in 2013 the Anna Regina school had also secured top grades at the examinations. Hercules contextualised the school’s performances within the recent Covid-19 pandemic which she said makes her even more proud. Headmaster of Anna Regina Secondary, Lalljeet Ruplall, used the opportunity to congratulate all the students for their outstanding performances and said that they made their teachers all proud.
Meanwhile, Queen’s College student, Bhedesh Persaud, has been hailed as the top performer in this year’s Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). Persaud secured 14 Grade Ones and 1 Grade Three.
Persaud was also named Guyana’s top CSEC performer in 2021 and said that he took his second title in humility. “I feel the same as I always feel, it’s a very humbling feeling to know that all the hard work has continued to pay off over the last few years”, he told reporters yesterday. The aspiring Civil Engineer says that he now looks forward to moving onto the path of tertiary education. “I’ll be going to university…I’ll start university in fall 2023…I plan on studying civil engineering. Well engineering in general really appeals to me since I was like in primary school now going into secondary school because I really love the principle that engineering is built upon…In terms of civil engineering I think civil engineering is the branch of engineering that will help me to have the biggest impact on people’s lives.”
He is encouraging upcoming students who are preparing to sit the CSEC and CAPE exams to really think carefully about their future and work towards it.
“As it is the beginning of an academic year, I will say to all students preparing for exams, be it CSEC, CAPE or otherwise, to use the next nine months to really think about what you want and commit yourself to getting that…you might have to sacrifice a few things but trust me it’s worth the sacrifice,” said Persaud.
Asked who he credited his success to, the young man said that his supporters are too numerous to mention.
“I can’t credit it to one person, first of all I must credit it to God…you’re interviewing one person here but you’re interviewing a whole lot of persons that would’ve helped me along the way.” In 2021, not only did Persaud cop the title of Guyana’s CSEC top performer, but he was also named the top regional CSEC performer when he attained 22 Grade Ones and a Grade Two, according to the Caribbean Examinations Council. Another top performer at the CAPE examinations, Atishta Seenaraine of Uitvlugt said that she aspires to become a paediatrician. She attended the Saraswati Vidya Niketan on the West Demerara and did nine units. Her mother Anjanie Seenarine said that she is proud of her daughter’s performance. She said she always admired her daughter for her discipline and humility. Seenarine is advising students to continue their studies and continue to aim high.
“In order to achieve you have to set your goals and stick to them, it is important to remain focused and to ensure that you put in the extra studies, I encourage those sitting the examinations to continue to revise and remain focused on your studies” Seenarine said.
