Celebrating success: Guyanese top NGSA students bask in glory

By Vahnu Manikchand and Ruqayyah Boyer –

Eleven-old Salma Majeed of ISA Islamic School gained 548 marks to cop the top spot in this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), bringing prestige to her school and satisfaction to parents and teachers who worked tirelessly in preparing her for the examinations.
Pile of Mae’s Under 12 scored 547. Several other students from the school made it into the top 100.
Surrounded by family members, teachers and classmates, Majeed said she is happy to have achieved this milestone because she worked really hard and always tried her best.
Ecstatic
The ecstatic 11-year-old pointed out that she does not have any particular weakness, but noted that her two favourite subjects are science and social studies. She thanked her family, friends and teachers for being supportive. Majeed is advising other students aspiring to achieve success, to always try their best and do not back off when faced with difficulties. She noted that she is looking forward with great anticipation to working even harder in her secondary school years.
Meanwhile, her proud and emotional mother was speechless at the news and was still trying to come to grips with it when she was approached to comment about her daughter’s success. She noted, “I didn’t expect this, she always used to do good and tried her best, but this is beyond our expectations, but we are happy about it.”
Christian Pile, 11, of Mae’s Under 12 copped the second spot in the top 10 and was very happy that all his hard work paid off. The young man scored 547 marks at the examinations.
The young man believes that he deserves the position as he anticipates his future at Queens College, where he will continue to strive for excellence. Pile said in preparing for the exams, he would go home from school and study with the help of his mother and father and was assisted by his teacher, adding that his success could not be possible without the will of Almighty God.
He remarked that he hopes to one day become an astronomer and thanked his teachers for all they have done in preparing him for the exams.
At number three, Navindra Persaud expressed excitement at his achievement, noting that he studied really hard to gain the position he got. The 11-year-old said he prayed a lot and was heavily supported by his teachers. Taking the third spot, the Mae’s Under 12 student disclosed he is aspiring to become a doctor or a cricketer just like his role model, Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Persaud’s advice to other students who want to excel academically is to work hard, never quit and pray.
Tears of joy
Ashtmi Natasha Deo, 11, came in at number four. She broke down in tears of joy when asked to comment about her success at the exam, noting that she never expected to perform this well, but was very grateful nevertheless. She said her parents were the driving force behind her success and credited her teachers at Mae’s Under 12. The aspiring doctor/musician noted that her success is somewhat bittersweet because of the fact that some of her friends did not make it. In preparation for exams, Deo recalled the efforts she put into studying and all the hard work she did and sacrifices she made
The fifth position was awarded to another Mae’s Under 12 student, 11-year-old Brandon Chanderban, who described his feelings as euphoric. He noted that he underwent vigorous preparations for the exams and was assisted by his parents and teachers. With aspirations of becoming a lawyer, the lad said he can now relax after months of tedious hard work. Chanderban explained that the assessment was not difficult and he is overwhelmed that he emerged successful.
Hard work
Zane Ramotar, in at number six and also of Mae’s Under 12, expressed his elation at the news. He stated that he worked hard to attain the space and was assisted by his father with his studies. Ramotar disclosed that he worked a lot of past exam papers. The lad thanked his teachers and parents for being supportive, noting that he is looking forward for his tenure at the country’s top secondary school. Ramotar said that he aspires to be a pilot and will work even harder to achieve this.
Exceeding her expectation, Leshanna Bindah from Stella Maris Primary School related that while she knew she would be placed in the top spots, she did not expect to be in the top 10. Bindah was placed seventh in the country. She said that preparations for exams were filled with sleepless nights and tiresome work with hardly any spare time.
Bindah, an aspiring doctor, said the exams were not hard except for English, which she noted, proved to be a little difficult. The young lady added that she is still trying to come to grip with her achievements, noting that she can now relax until school re-opens.
Abdur-Ramhman Sattaur was surrounded by friends and teachers when this publication visited the Al Ghazali Islamic Academy. The lad said he was excited and ecstatic when he received the news of being placed eighth in the country. He added that the exams were “tricky”, noting that the questions were not too hard or too easy, but some of them were “tricky”. Sattaur said he worked hard before the exams and had to study a lot; however, he does not mind it because it helped him to make the country’s top 10. While he does not have any aspirations, the lad noted that he is very fond of science.
Sacrifice
When this newspaper broke the news to 11-year-old Divya Jagroo, who copped the ninth position, she began screaming, her fellow classmates surrounded her outside of the Graham’s Hall Primary School. Jagroo was placed ninth in top 10 along with three other persons. She told Guyana Times International that the news is very rewarding since all of her hard work has paid off.
“Before exams, it was a bit difficult because I had to go bed late and I had to make sacrifices like stop watching TV and gave up playtime to study.”
The aspiring doctor pointed out that she always wanted to go to Queens College and can do so now while adding that the most difficult subject during the exam was mathematics. The elated girl quickly called home and related the news to her parents.
Daniel Baldeo-Thorne, 10, said preparing for exams was tough, especially for the subjects that he does not like, nevertheless he studied and it proved beneficial for him as he was placed 10th among the country’s top performers. The aspiring astronaut thanked God, his teachers and parents, more so his father for their support. The New Guyana School student noted that his father was the one who pushed him, even though he would not want to study.
Topping Region Six and also placing ninth is Renee Bisnauth of Cropper Primary.
Her father, who is a high school teacher, said he expected his daughter to do well and getting 540 marks at this year’s examinations came as no surprise to him. Bisnauth got the news of her success, but did not believe until her teachers confirmed the information.
“I was surprised and excited when belief started to step in,” the youngster said.
Serious study
According to her father, it was only about a month before the exams that Renee started to study seriously. “But before that she was always doing well in class.” Renee copped the first place at the National Spelling B Competition in 2011 and went on to represent Guyana in St Kitts where she finished fourth.
She said apart from school, she attended lessons conducted by her class teacher for one hour on school days. The free lesson, she said, focused on revising most on the work that was done in class during regular school time.
Her biggest thanks however go to her former Headteacher Leroy King, who according to her took a special interest in her educational development. According to Renee’s father, King lent him some old exam papers to help Renee with her studies when he retired in January. “That certainly did help,” he said.
During the last month for the examinations, the top student said she got up at 5:30h and studied for one hour. The evening was used to do home work. One of the first family members to learn of Renee’s achievement was her mother Dian, who told Guyana Times International after learning that the results were going to be out the day, was on the Internet waiting on the results, and at 14:15h, her wait was over.
“I am proud at my daughter’s achievement,” she said.