HARD work, promises of rewards and the sheer determination to succeed were some of the influential factors for the top students at this year’s Secondary School Entrance Examination (SSEE).
The SSEE results were released on Tuesday, with 11-year-old Kia Persaud of the West Ruimveldt Primary topping the country with 558 marks out of a possible 563.
Today, the Chronicle features some more of the country’s other successful students at the examination.
Radesh Ramsurup is the top SSEE student in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam) and the second top in the country with 557 marks.
Quiet and loving, he has brought happiness to his parents, grandmother, relatives, neighbours, friends and other residents of his community.
His grandmother told this newspaper that Radesh studies a lot and takes his school work seriously. Teachers and the Headmaster of the Taymouth Manor Primary School are also very proud of Radesh’s performance at the examination.
Regional Education Officer of Region Two, Mr. Claude Amsterdam said he was pleased with the performance of students of the region at the SSEE.
According to the top education official of the region, the efforts of teachers, parents and students must be recognised.
Amsterdam is also calling on teachers across the region to work harder in the future to keep up the creditable performance of the region at the SSEE. Some 1,214 students of the region wrote the examination.
Amsterdam also reported that the C.V. Nunes Primary School in the town of Anna Regina, gained 18 places in the top 25 of the region, while Taymouth Manor gained four, Sparta, one, Good Hope, one and Huist T’Dieren, one.
Eleven students of C.V. Nunes won places at Queen’s College while the other seven won places at Bishops High School.
Twelve-year-old Subraj Singh of the Leonora Primary School on the West Coast Demerara will be attending Queen’s College after gaining 548 marks in the examinations.
The shy young man said he always knew he would succeed since he was a high achiever throughout his school years. He said he is excited with his performance since he was very dedicated to his studies.
“I stayed up most of the nights studying”, he said.
For this aspiring paediatrician of Lot 513 Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara, studying was from 18:00 hrs to 23:00 hrs. He would then get some rest and rise again at 05:00 hrs to continue his studies.
He was greeted with the news of his success on the television news and said his parents were very elated at the results.
According to Singh, his choice of career is based on the fact that he loves children and helping people on the whole. He dedicated his success to his parents and teachers who always urged him to study and strive for the best.
His performance will be truly celebrated when he gets a party and the new computer that he was promised for being successful.
Headmaster of the school, Mr. M.F Khan, said Leonora Primary has always been doing well at the examination. The school placed second at last year’s examination and since 1996, has been securing top spots in the country.
Some 115 students from the school wrote the examinations, with 13 of them gaining places at President’s College.
Placing among the country’s top 10 was never on Kareene Montague’s mind since she was quite skeptical about her performance at the examinations.
“Although I am feeling excited, I never expected so much because I thought I had made lots of mistakes.”
The 10- year-old of Lot 46 Parika Village, East Bank Essequibo, and a student of Greenwich Park Primary, also on the East Bank Essequibo, said her parents were so overcome with emotion when they heard the news that her mother almost cried.
She said the examination was “easy” since she was always studying and taking extra lessons.
After leaving school from lessons at 17:00 hrs, she went home and studied from 19:00 hrs to midnight before retiring to bed. This studying was done from Monday to Friday and even on weekends.
She credited her success to her parents Elaine and Benchel Montague and teacher Miss Elaine.
Kareene said she would like to become a teacher, so as to enable her to share her knowledge with the children of Guyana.
Stella Maris Primary student Stefan Wong has secured himself a place at Queen’s College in the next school term after securing 548 marks at this year’s examinations.
Yesterday when the Chronicle visited his school, Stefan said he was very happy and excited to be among the country’s top performers.
He is very fluent and said that he heard of his success from his class teacher on Tuesday.
The 11-year-old told this newspaper that he would like to be a doctor so that he can help people.
Like the other students, hard work was the key to his success. However, Stefan only began taking extra lessons during the last two terms before the examination.
The New Guyana School also excelled at this year’s examinations, with top student Nathalia Gonzalez gaining 552 marks and a place at Queen’s College.
The Colombian national came to Guyana three years ago and began attending the private school. She is in Miami on vacation with her parents.
Other successful students were Elson Low who gained 544, Vikash Ramnarine, 539, and Luanna Hardowar, all of the New Guyana School.
Roberta Ferguson with 550, Lisa Marie Baksh who gained 551, and Devindra Persaud with 549, was also some of the top achievers of the West Ruimveldt Primary, while Robyn Thomas of the Concord Academy and Devindra Singh of the A.B.C Academy were also successful.
The Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (C.I.O.G.) in a release, also congratulated Salma Ibrahim, Naziyah Ibrahim of the ISA School and Lisa Marie Baksh and Fiaz Mustapaha of West Ruimveldt Primary School on their success at the examinations.