With just one year to prepare for the exams, NGSA performer places amongst country’s top 1 percent

Jul 19, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – When he re-migrated to Guyana from Canada, Zayden Husain, a pupil of Camille’s Academy was given just about a year to prepare for the National Grade Six Assessment Examinations (NGSA).

But along with his dedication to his studies, the help of his grade level teacher and the encouragement of his parents, the young Husain performed exceptionally and even earned a spot among the country’s top 1%. The pupil who lived in Canada for most of his life challenged himself to adapt to Guyana’s curriculum after he returned to the country in January 2025.

The young top performer recalled “First I was just going to be sitting in grade five until the grade six class finished their NGSA, but I wanted to write the NGSA, and my parents supported me during that time. So we bought all the textbooks, and I started relearning work from grade four up, and my teacher was very supportive during my journey,”

The boy’s mother, Natasha Husain related when she and her husband decided to return to Guyana they considered placing their children in a learning environment that would facilitate their children’s transition from the Canadian model to Guyana’s  seamlessly as possible.

She said they scouted the public /private school systems and ultimately decided on Camille’s Academy.

Mrs. Husain explained: “When Zayden transitioned from Canada, of course, Canada is a first world country. The schools are like so much bigger, more amenities, and more extracurricular activities. The way they teach is very different as well. Most of their teaching is on technology and presentations. Everything’s being printed for them. They don’t take notes. They don’t write notes as much. So like all of this was something he had to adapt to, but Camille’s Academy made the transition so much easier. I feel as though if we had put him into public school, he would have been not as motivated.”

“I know that he could have done this exam, that he’s capable, and he could put his energies into it but it would have been like a gap in the transition, but with Camille’s Academy, it helped smoothly you know help him to get into the routine there at the at the school and so on.”

She noted that her son was behind in the preparations, but his grade level teacher saw his work and decided to encourage him to prep for NGSA.

According to Mrs. Husain, when Zayden joined Camille’s Academy at Crane, West Coast Demerara  in January 2025, the NGSA class for 2025 was going to go ahead to write the exams in a few months.

She recalled “He wasn’t anywhere prepped for that, so even though he was within the age limit at that time, we they put him back in to sit into grade five because the grade six was prepping for exams. When he sat into the grade five, the plan was to move him up to grade six after the exam to prep for high school, grade seven at Camilles. So he would have skipped the exams but after he sat in grade five, his teacher, Miss Poedja Singh was so good with the class that, he convinced himself that he can prep for the exam.”

Mrs. Husain noted her son adapted quickly too because it’s not all about the academics with Camille’s, as other schools are.

“They also very rounded. So like, they have yoga class. They have extra activities like coding and so on that he’s been a part of, so it’s kind of motivating that it’s not just you know the core subjects that they have a wider variety. And thanks to the school, it helped him to convince himself that he can do this”

Additionally, she described her son as an independent learner who is able to discipline himself to manage his academics and school practice times effectively.

“He didn’t attend any extra lessons, he looked at videos and he tried to look at his resources, go through the textbooks, and you know re-emphasise what he learned and make sure it stuck with him. So that was one of the things that really helped him. And with weekends, he would make sure that everything he did over the week he get it. And if he didn’t, he’ll go back to school the following day, and he would ask his teacher to go it over. She was very patient with him as well,” Mrs. Husain said.

She noted that social studies was especially challenging since Zayden and his brother knew little about Guyana.

“With our history of Guyana, I tried to help them when we were there to tell them bits and pieces, but then they had to do all the social studies work. So that was one thing that they put their focus on as well. Zayden put his focus on, and to learn about the Caribbean, South America in the whole”

Nevertheless, the proud mom said she and her husband Reyaz never pressured their children to perform academically.

“Zayden is an independent learner, he knew when to use his device to play and when to study. He was good with the concepts that’s being taught at Camille’s Academy, and from that, he would selfstudy, you know, teach himself and do all the extra work. We didn’t want to have like different tutoring to confuse him, and I think that helped a lot too,” she said.

As for Zayden, he expressed excitement at the prospect of attending Queen’s College.

He said was quite surprised to learn that he is among the nation’s top 1 percent and was named the valedictorian of Camille’s Academy NGSA graduating class of 2026.

“I was so surprised. It felt surreal. I was excited and like overwhelmed at the same time. My parents’ were happy for me and excited also. They were so like they were so happy to see that my dream came true,” he said.

The top performer expressed gratitude to his school particularly his teacher Ms. Poedja , as he looks forward to  starting a new school and to learn alongside the amazing hardworking 1 % graduates of the country, whom he can learn from and would explore new challenges with.

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• Camille’s Academy, NGSA, top 1 percent, Zayden Husain

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