The sons of Berbice journalists Malisa Playter Harry and Nafeeza Yayah Sakur came out as top performers at their respective schools on the Corentyne at the National Grade Six Examinations leaving their families proud.
Both Harry and Sakur, who have been in the field of journalism for over a decade now would interview the regional top students yearly, however, this year they were on the other end as proud parents as their hard work, dedication and sacrifices helped their sons secure the top spots at their respective schools.
Harry’s son, 11-year-old Ezra Eli Anthony Harry of Cropper Primary School secured a 498.52 landing a spot at the Queen’s College with seventh position in the region’s top ten.
In an exclusive interview with Stabroek News, Ezra said, “I feel overjoyed and excited and very happy.”
In preparing for his examination, he said, he increased his study time and “cut off screen time.”
According to him, his routine after school was relaxing for a bit and then revising his daily schoolwork. “I would study up to 9 (pm) sometimes.” Ezra did not participate in any after-school lessons.
The young man who has a dream of becoming a neurologist since the age of five, said, “I want to help people suffering from ailments relating to the brain.”
He thanked his parents, teacher, uncle, and grandparents for the role they played in supporting him through his journey. He said, “They would have taught me a lot of things. We worked past papers in the classroom and at home.”
He then advised students to “have a routine for studying and also to cut off screen time.”
Ezra hopes to celebrate his accomplishment by visiting Linden.
His father, Fawaz Harry, Regional Sales Representative for Sleepy Diapers, said that in preparing Ezra for the examinations “we tried to get him to work as many past papers as possible and then we would go over the answers with him and the ones because we know some of the questions may repeat themselves in the actual exams.”
Additionally, he said, a lot of time was spent with him “more so on the part of my wife (Malisa) to ensure he grasps the various concepts.”
Harry himself was a top performer when he wrote the National Grade Six Examination (then common entrance) in 2000, as he had topped the Rose Hall Primary School that year and gained a spot in the region’s top ten also.
Malisa, unable to contain her pride, said that her son enjoyed his electronic tablet however leading up to the examination he made a decision to cut it out. “He understood the importance of this examination so he made that sacrifice willingly.”
She said, “He put in the work in school and he put in the work at home. I don’t think it was necessary for him to go to extra lessons because I knew his strengths and we knew his weaknesses so we just needed to work with him and support him along the way.”
Homing in on the role parents play in their children’s education, Malisa said that she believes every child needs support “Whether it’s not financially, they need you to be there, they need to see that you are interested in what they are doing, they need to feel as though mommy and daddy is behind them 100%. We have always shown Ezra that we believe in him, we’ve always told him that it doesn’t matter if he didn’t do as well as he wanted to, it doesn’t matter because we are there to support him regardless, we tried to nurture his ability because we saw that he was a brilliant child from a young age and we nurtured that.”
In terms of preparation, the mother said “I would like to say that Ezra has been preparing for this moment all his life because from the tender age of three Ezra could read newspaper headlines and he quickly moved on to reading the full stories and books of all kinds. His level of understanding and analyzing things were mind-blowing at that age and as he grew.”
She added, that although the teachers’ strike was ongoing, they used the downtime at home to prep him for the examinations.
Sakur’s son, Mikaeel Sakur, 11, who topped the Kildonan Primary School with a score of 487.25 and secured a spot at St. Joseph High, said that he felt ecstatic achieving something he always wanted. “I made a few changes giving up my games and made a study timetable and worked with that.”
Additionally, he said, he worked on a lot of past papers which assisted in his success. “The Guyana Learning Channel was very instrumental in my studies. It was technically my virtual teaching guide.”
Sakur, who hopes to become a surgical doctor, said, “I would first give praises to Allah because without his guidance I would not have been able to achieve this goal, my parents, lessons teacher, and Kildonan Primary.”
He advised the students who will be sitting the NGSA next year to “start preparing early, make the necessary sacrifices, plan your goals and work towards it, it’s worth it in the end.”
In celebration, Sakur will be visiting a few states in the USA where he hopes to purchase a few “gaming equipment.”
Sakur’s mother, Nafeeza said that it was a very emotional moment for her and her husband, Sulaiman Sakur, contractor/project manager, as parents “we were on the phone while checking the website, to see the hard work and sacrifices we put in as a family reaped success.”
She stated, “Tears flowed naturally and prayers of gratitude were offered and even at this moment it hasn’t quite sunk in but we are very proud of him and extremely happy that he emerged as the top performer for his school.”
Nafeeza said that her son has always wanted to top his school “and we are happy to see that accomplishment.”
Turning to parental involvement, she stressed that it is a key factor in creating a supportive and enriching educational environment for children “so I am pleading with parents to give their kids that support, be there for them, encourage them, listen to them and you will see the difference.”
She urged, “Be that uplifting force for them. I would also advise them to make use of the resources available on the Ministry of Education website there are a lot of stuff there that can assist tremendously. I can attest that helped Mikaeel a lot because when he had difficulty with a question and we couldn’t help him he would use the boosters for guidance and I could see the relief on his face afterwards.”
Additionally, she added that it is also important for parents to strike a balance with work and study for their kids because while Mikaeel had a lot of make-up studies “we ensure he wasn’t overwhelmed and allowed him leisure activities and sports as well as his Islamic studies.”
