By Deneita Fredericks and Mia Anthony
The Ministry of Education yesterday announced the results for the 2023 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA and this year three students tied as the top performers scoring 506.7 out of 507.7; Anaya Jagnandan of the New Guyana School, Ritisha Gobin of Academy of Excellence, and Glasford Archer of Leonora Primary School, earning them a coveted place at Queen’s College.
Stabroek News spoke with the top students at the New Pegasus Suites, Exhibition Centre in Georgetown.
Anaya Jagnandan
Contented and excited were two of the words that could be used to describe 11-year-old Anaya when she received news that she was one of the top performers in the country. Anaya, who hails from Good Hope, expressed her overwhelming joy with having been able to make all the persons who invested in her proud.
“I am very happy and proud of myself, I prayed a lot to God… I prayed that he would help me study, I would do quizzes and sometimes watch programmes online to help me build my skills”
Her father Anatalov said that he is very proud of his daughter because she lived up to her potential. He described the accomplishment as a team effort and thanked all the persons who played in major role in her success.
The aspiring astronomer recalled having to sacrifice some of the things she loved doing such as spending time on her tablet and dancing just to get in some hours of study. She noted that the technique that worked for her was memorising all the key formulae and important points as she stated “Reading doesn’t mean you will know everything.”
Anaya described the examinations as average, however she noted the trickiest subjects to be Social Studies and Science. She is also a fan of online gaming, art and dancing.
“I would like to thank above all my Lord, Jesus Christ for bringing me through this exam. I would also like to thank my parents, my god-parents, my grandmother and not forgetting my teacher of Grade Six, Ms. Velma”
She described her favourite part of this journey as the celebration after she got her results as she advised the students who will be writing NGSA in 2024 to not cram their school work and to just focus on the important things.
Glasford Archer
Glasford, an 11-year-old of Leonora Primary, described himself as extremely happy as he did not expect to be a top performer. He was most certain that he could not have done it without his parents and the Ministry of Education, who provided the right resources to make his studying easier.
“Every day, I visited the Ministry’s website and worked a lot of past test papers. I dedicated six hours of my time after school to studying and coming down to exam time, I gave up some of my other activities.”
The budding businessman hails all the way from Cornelia Ida and said the examination as an easy one with no tricky questions. His passion for playing cricket with his cousins forms part of his leisure time activities.
According to his mother, Shonelle, she is beyond proud of her son and happy that his hard work paid off. She noted that she stayed up with him many times as he studied.
Archer told Stabroek News that his favourite part of this entire journey was making new friends and learning interesting topics.
Earning a place at Queen’s College, he intends to further his studies in the business stream and hopefully one day become a businessman.
His advice to students sitting next year’s examination is to not overwork themselves, but to give some time to themselves and some time to studies.
Ritisha Gobin
Ritisha, of the Academy of Excellence said that she was excited and nervous at the same time when the results were about to be announced.
She described her preparation as having to attend classes every night and sacrificing two to three hours on the weekends for her studies.
The 11-year-old intends to pursue her dreams of being a lawyer as she goes off to Queen’s College.
Aradhya Ramjag
Aradhya Ramjag, an elated 11-year-old from Mae’s U12, told this newspaper that she is very happy with her results.
“I studied really hard and had my dad teach me Mathematics after dinner, while at school my teachers helped me with my school work as well”, she said.
When asked about the path she intends to study, Aradhya is not sure where her career path lies right now but with her interest in science, she’s confident that her journey into Queen’s College will take her in that direction.
Also among the top 10 are Savana Anansha McIntosh, Ariana Amira Samad, Samara Tatiana James, Relance N. Marcus all registering a score of 505.8; and Afeerah Ali, Reyad Nathan Baksh, Jada Johanna Pike and Rhea A. Jaserrsingh with a score of 505.7.
Among the top 20 were Selah Pearl Erskine with 505.8, Makeda Gwen Johnson 495.4, Aresia Cornelius 498.3, Diana Hariprashad 502.1, Aaron Munessar Anamayah 502.9, Avron Joshua Doodnauth 503, and Sashana Henry 498.1.
The top students for each region are; Sashana Henry – Region One; Avron Doodnauth – Region Two; Glasford Archer and Ritisha Gobin tied for Region Three; Afeerah Ali – Region Four; Diana Hariprashad – Region Five; Jade Archibald, Aaron Anamayah, and Annalisa Siriram – Region Six; Aresia Cornelius – Region Seven; Ken Kyle Mark – Region Eight; Makeda Johnson – Region Nine; and Selah Pearl Erskine – Region Ten.
The Ministry also awarded two girls, Claire Glasgow of the New Guyana School for best Short Story, and Rihanna Chapelle of Tuschen Primary for Best Letter. This earned both girls a scholarship to Queen’s College.
In an interview with Stabroek News, Aaron Anamayah, of Cropper Primary, who was awarded a spot at Queen’s College told this newspaper that his experience was one of ease with the help of his parents and teachers he mentioned that some of his past teachers were a big help in aiding him to remember past school work he would have forgotten.
He especially thanked his mom for her assistance. “My mom has always been working with me ever since I was small, during the grade six grade five period she would always read with me since I am not a big fan of reading.” Aaron’s dad, Adrian Anamayah, who is a lawyer, also assisted him with school work. He told this newspaper that there was a study system in place which aided in their son’s success at the exams.
Stabroek News also spoke to one of the scholarship awardees, Claire Glasgow, who earned a spot at St Stanislaus College and got Best Short Story and was subsequently awarded a scholarship to Queen’s College. Her dad, Everette Glasgow, a university lecturer, told this newspaper that Claire got her writing gift from her mother who is also a university lecturer and has published quite a few academic pieces.
When asked about how she felt she said that she was happy to have made her parents proud and her dad noted that he was even more proud of her because she worked independently, and hardly ever asked any questions, which he felt was a true testament to her brilliance and to the environment they have created for her to grow in her academics.
