Three boys tie for top spot at CSEC

Aug 21, 2024 News

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– QC girl tops CAPE

By Alliyah Allicock

Kaieteur News – Three boys, two from Anna Regina Multilateral School in Region Two and one from Queen’s College (QC) in Georgetown have tied with the most Grade One passes at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).

At the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), another QC student, Aniyah Couchman copped 11 grade one passes to covet the top spot. This is according to Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand who on Tuesday released the preliminary CSEC and CAPE results at the Queen’s College auditorium.

Cautioning that this is only the “preliminary results” and not yet official results, the minister revealed that tied for the top spot are: Rudranauth Sankar of Anna Regina who secured 23 Grade Ones and one Grade Two, Pradesh Dwarka also of Anna Regina who secured 23 Grade Ones and three Grade Twos, and Dave Chowtie of Queen’s College who secured 23 Grade Ones and six Grade Twos.

She noted that among the top performers for CAPE are Couchman who secured Grade Ones in 11 units, Grade Two in two units and Grade Three in one unit; Lateisha McArthur of Queen’s College who secured Grade Ones in eight units, Grade Two in four units, and Grade Three in two units; and Omari Holder of St. Stanislaus College who secured Grade Ones in eight units, Grade Two in five units and Grade Four in one unit.

In brief remarks, the Education Minister said that “despite there was a teachers’ strike while the children were preparing for their exams, they did not perform ‘badly’ ”. “Guyana had a strike at one of the most crucial times in these children’s preparation and you know it more than me. Some schools didn’t [teach], and you see that in the results and some schools did…”

Noting the decline in the pass rate for mathematics and the ministry’s intervention to bring up the grades, the minister mentioned that by September, every student in the country will be equipped with a scientific calculator, geometry set, past papers organised topic by topic done by the ministry’s math specialist, graph books, and have all the textbooks they need.

During her address, she also said that the ministry has reviewed the number of subjects some schools allow the students to write and noted that more schools will have eligible children writing more than 12 subjects at CSEC. “They are children who can write 30 subjects and still do well and we shouldn’t shut that down for them, and so we have opened it up. All of the List-A schools have all been mandated to fix their timetable to allow the students who are eligible to write as many subjects they want,” she announced. She added that “eligible” meaning students who want to write more subjects.

Meanwhile, of the list of CSEC top performers this year, they are Brianna Sobers of QC who secured 20 Grades Ones and five Grade Twos; Randhir Toney of Anna Regina Secondary who obtained 19 Grade Ones and seven Grade Twos; Venisha Devi Lall of Anna Regina Secondary who secured 18 Grade Ones, eight Grade Twos and three Grade Threes;  Sohail Mohamad of New Amsterdam  Secondary who obtained 18 Grade Ones and three Grade Twos; and Makenna Mandisa Johnny of QC who secured 18 Grade Ones and two Grade Twos.

Additionally, Anaaya Jain of QC secured 17 Grade Ones, six Grade Twos and one Grade Three; Chitra Parbhu of Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) who obtained 17 Grade Ones, two Grade Twos and one Grade Three; Bomeka Singh of Anna Regina Secondary who secured 16 Grade Ones and five Grade Twos; and Gevasha Harpaul also of Anna Regina Secondary who obtained 15 Grade Ones and 12 Grade Twos.

In relation to CAPE, the following students from QC secured Grade Ones in six units and they are Sheridan Dyal, Makaila Henry, Arthur Roberts, Gabriella Roberts and Korphiena Stephen, while Jenna Hoosein of SVN secured Grade Ones in six units.

Sleepless nights

Speaking to this publication after learning of his results, an excited Sankar said the journey has been a tough one with many sleepless nights. “From 6 (am), my day would start I would go to lessons, one after the other then school; from school I go to lessons, come back 12 in the night and maybe 2 in the morning. I would have to complete SBAs and on top of that I would have to revise because it was 24 subjects I did, it was really tough. That was how my days went by,” he explained.

He thanked his parents and grandparents who were his sole motivators. Asked about his future plans, Sankar stated that he is thinking about heading into the medical field. “It’s a great field, I think saving lives is the best job…”  Sankar also advised students sitting the 2025 CSEC exams to be committed, dedicated and be able to sacrifice a lot things if they want good results. “You have to be able to sacrifice a lot of things, things that you enjoy the most. In my time, I sacrificed all the gadgets and social media just because I wanted to be here and here, I am,” the top performer said.

Feeling great

Another top performer from Anna Regina Secondary, Pradesh Dwarka expressed that he felt amazing after learning of his results.  “I’m feeling great, this is an experience I have been waiting for so long, so it feels so satisfying that I get to experience what I longed for.”

He said his preparation for the exams started early in the day and that he “put in a lot of hard works”. Asked about his future plans, Dwarka said he intends to pursue his tertiary education where he can obtain a Degree in Civil Engineering. He added that his father is a contractor and he would like to pursue this to help his father in this field of work.

Hard work paid off

Speaking with the media, top CAPE performer, Couchman said she felt very happy to know that all of her hard work paid off. “I was very nervous for these results but it’s good to know that the combination of all my hard work led up to this,” she added. According to the 19-year-old, her next step is pursing computer engineering and she intends to further her studies overseas.

Looking to pursue CAPE at QC, Gabriella Lee Ann De Santos who secured 14 Grade Ones, 6 Grade Twos and 1 Grade Three, told media operatives she felt “pretty good” about her results and advised students who will be writing the exams next year to study early and not wait until the last moments.

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• Chitra Parbhu, CSEC, Saraswati Vidya Niketan, Sohail Mohamad, Venisha Devi Lall

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