Berbice NGSA top students prefer ‘country’ schools

July 5, 2012 By Guyana Times International | By Michael Itwaru
Regional Education Officer of Region Six Shafiran Bhajan has hailed the performance of the region’s top 10 students at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations.
Speaking with Guyana Times International briefly last week, Bhajan explained that she did not have ample time to analyse the results, but is very pleased with the performance of the children of the region, especially in the face of the many challenges.

One of the challenges alluded to by Bhajan is teachers being away from the classroom due to commitments at the University of Guyana, which she said accounts for the loss of 50 per cent of classroom instruction time.
The stories of the top five students in the region vary, but they all highlighted the hard work and strong support given by parents who kept track of the classroom work and assisted with assignments.
Raul Rajaram, 12, who attends the All Saints Primary School in New Amsterdam, took the top spot scoring 529 marks. He was confident of topping his school but when told by this publication last Thursday that he has claimed the top spot in the region, Rajaram and his mother Donna Ramprashad were ecstatic.

When this publication called at the student’s residence at Lot 111 Essex Street, New Amsterdam, Ramprashad was taking a nap and Rajaram was busy with his video game. He had not yet changed out of his burgundy shirt and khaki pants (school uniform), having returned home about two hours before not knowing his results.
The mother, a housewife, said that she supported her son who is a very hard worker while his father Rishi, a vendor, did not withhold financial support. “I worked with him a lot… help get his assignments done and we worked even over the weekend.”
According to Ramprashad, Rajaram was very consistent with excellent grades from Grades One to Six and even scored 99 per cent on two   occasions at final examinations. Rajaram confessed that when the results were announced on the news on Wednesday night, he was very disappointed that he did not make the top 10 in the country, nevertheless he is happy.
He had hoped for a place at Bishops’ High School or Queen’s College. However, the aspiring medical doctor would not be attending a city school, his mother said, noting that she prefers having him close by in case of emergencies. Rajaram said he will join his brother Ryan at the New Amsterdam Secondary School in September.

Hemanta Doodnauth, 11, of Cropper Primary School, Corentyne, scored 526 marks and secured the second spot in the region. According to the child’s mother Dropatie, they were also disappointed that Hemanta did not feature in the country’s top 10, but are still very pleased with the results.
The proud mother explained that Hemanta had done well throughout her scholastic career to this point. The mother was confident that Hemanta would have excelled, having won a regional essay competition sponsored by GuySuCo in May. Dropatie said academic excellence runs in the family with her being a Grade One teacher at Cropper Primary, while her husband Bhowani teaches at Belvedere Primary.
Hemanta’s brother, Divesh, topped the recent Grade Two assessment at the Belvedere Primary School.
In at number three is Swaleha Khan of Number 68 Primary School with 525 marks. Her mother Bibi, speaking over the phone, said she is very involved in her children’s education and checks their books every day to see what they have done.

She spent many hours teaching Swaleha at home and explained that she began learning Algebra and all the secondary school work by looking into her son Nabeel’s books. He attends the Tagore Memorial Secondary School and his sister will join him in September. “I worked with her night and day since they were all small, I worked with them… I bought the school news and Swaleha told me many of the 2011 questions came back in this year examinations.”
The housewife said her husband Kamal owns the Number 64 Village Gas Station, and she would help out at the pump sometimes when not looking after the house or children. She said her daughter transformed the entire backyard by making many teaching aids and hung then up, and she would daily conduct a classroom with invisible students.
Reba Bisnauth comes in at fourth with 523 marks. Bisnauth is the elder sister of Renee Bisnauth, who was the 2011 Grade Five National Spelling B Champion. Her father Rudranauth Bisnauth, a teacher at Corentyne Comprehensive Secondary School, disclosed that they expect great things from Reba and is very proud of her achievement He explained that Reba has not given much thought to her career path, but he is confident that with consistent work from himself and wife Donna, she has greater heights to reach. Rudranauth like the other parents will not be sending Reba to a city school; she will take a spot at the JC Chandisingh Secondary School, with her friend Hemanta.

At fifth spot with 522 marks, Ameera Ince has not only reaped success in Guyana, but has done excellently at the Barbados 11-Plus Examinations. The former student of the St Therese Primary School migrated to the land of flying fish two days after sitting the NGSA , and wrote the Bajan exam one month after, scoring 99 per cent in Mathematics and 84 per cent in language. She has earned a place at the prestigious Harrisons’ College. “I am doubly happy; I have great results from both countries… I received my results in Barbados two weeks ago, and will be turning out on the 10th of September at Harrisons’ College.”
Ince’s mother, Nalini Ince, a former Grade One teacher at the same school Ameera attended in Guyana, explained that after her husband took up a new appointment in January on the island, she and her mother-in-law were left with the  challenge of keeping things stable for Ameera for the two-day April examinations.