Two girls from the Cinderella County of Essequibo have continued their friendly academic rivalry and emerged to become the country’s top performers at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.
The two Anna Regina Multilateral students secured an astonishing 18 grade ones.
Zimeena Rasheed, the former C.V. Nunes Primary School Student who secured fifth position at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) six years ago, is now the country’s top CSEC performer with 18 grade ones and 2 grade twos. She is believed to be the first ever student to write 20 subjects at one sitting.
Rasheed was followed by former classmate of the C.V. Nunes Primary School, and Guyana’s top NGSA student of 2008, Yogeeta Persaud, who secured a perfect 18 grade ones.
The results were announced yesterday morning by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand who travelled to Essequibo for that specific purpose.
Region Two also came under the spotlight last year when 16-year-old Sarah Hack who attended the Abrams Zuil Secondary School scored 16 Grade ones, not only topping the country, but the Caribbean as well.
During an interview with Kaieteur News, Zimeena Rasheed, who aspires to work in the field of Structural Engineering, said that preparing for her exams called for a lot of studying and sacrifices.
Rasheed who actually wrote 21 subjects at CSEC said that her career choice was based on the fact that she is fascinated with buildings and interior designs. The top student said while she had not considered pursuing sixth form, she is ready for the University of Guyana.
The young lady, who is a member of the Presidents Youth Award Republic of Guyana (PYARG), said that her favourite subject is Technical Drawing. She has a brown belt in Karate, a subject area that she also pursued at CSEC examinations.
“I want to firstly thank God, and my parents. I would also like to thank my teachers for their support and my colleagues for their support,” a smiling Rasheed told Kaieteur News.
Her friendly academic rival, Yogeeta Persaud, who was quite bold but understandably emotional, said that it was after Minister Manickchand announced her as the second place student in the country, she broke down in tears in disbelief of what she had heard.
The 16 year-old said that with all the accomplishments so far she has not yet decided on a definite career path but is thinking about venturing into the field of medicine.
COOL, CALM AND COLLECTIVE
The former SSEE top student (back in 2008) encourages students who would sit the exam to remain cool, calm and collective, while focusing on the goal ahead. She added that this can only be accomplished if the relevant sacrifices are made.
Third-placed Phillipe Walker who obtained 16 grade ones and one grade two, said that preparing for his exams was a simple exercise. “I never had sleepless nights or over studied; I just remained calmed and focused during the examination period.”
The Science student added that he took extra lessons in other subject areas, including Economics, to achieve his goal. Walker admitted that he had fears when sitting the examination but prayed and remained composed.
The ecstatic young man said that after his summer vacation, he will continue at his school, Queen’s College, in the sixth form and plans to further his studies in Medicine internationally.
“I want to thank God because none of this would have been possible and my parents for all their support,” Walker said in conclusion.
Securing 16 grade ones and 1 grade two, Akeila Wiltshire said that she was not among her peers who “overworked themselves” to do well. She ensured that she was properly rested. The Queen’s College student said that while she was confident of success, her achievement as a top four performer definitely surpassed her expectations. The Under-15 Squash Champion said that without the support of her family and teachers, her success at this year’s examinations would not have been possible.
FOCUSED THROUGHOUT
Fifth place went to Cecil Cox of Queen’s College, who said that he viewed the examination as a “good” opportunity for him to excel in his academics. Cox who is not sure of his next move reflected that the examinations were difficult at times, but he remained focused throughout.
He said that the most difficult area for him was the foreign languages, as in Spanish, he only had one year to prepare.
His schoolmate, Akash Jairam, is aiming to be a student of Harvard University, 16 year-old Akash said that the examination period was a mixed bag, but he was “able to pull through and defy all odds”.
The Business student who was elated about his 15 ones, two twos and one three, said that apart from his stream subjects, he pursued the subject area of Physics, but it posed a number of difficulties as he also had only one year to prepare.
Jairam said that he plans to go to American University to pursue studies in either Business or Law thanked the teachers of Queen’s College who helped him through the “stress and drama” of School Based Assessments (SBAs). He also gave a heartfelt thanks to his parents who gave him tremendous support.
FLOATING ON CLOUD NINE
When contacted by this publication, aspiring Cardiologist Sharmila Ramlall, who obtained 15 ones and two twos, said that she is unable to bring herself “back to normal”, as she was still feeling as though she was “floating on cloud nine”. The young lady noted that while the examination was not much of a struggle, she had to turn her “determination mode on”, in order to complete and submit her School Based Assessments (SBA) on time. Ramlall said that she went into the examination with an open mind, so as to not be disappointed, should the results not be in her favour. She plans to pursue studies for CAPE, come next year.
Shahrazaad Khan, whose 15 ones and one two are equally impressive, spoke of his interest in the field of Forensics. The 17-year-old Shahrazaad Khan described some of the subjects as easy while others were complex. The Queen’s College student said that her most demanding subject was Physics because of its challenging questions.
The elated teen told this publication that she plans to further her studies at the sixth form level at Queen’s College, but is not too sure where she will be pursuing her dreams of being a Forensic Scientist.
“I want to thank Allah and my parents, grandparents, relatives and teachers for all their support,” Khan said.
And amiable Crystal Nelson was the only St. Rose’s High School student to make it into this year’s top 10. The aspiring Pediatrician is hoping for a scholarship in order to pursue her studies. She told Kaieteur News that while everyone expected her to be among the tops, she was not very hopeful. However, she maintained that giving up her novels and television time to study has paid off. She added that the key to her success today is prioritizing.
“I believe that there is a time for everything, and months before the exams was the time for me to study, and I am glad that it paid off,” an obviously ecstatic Nelson said.
She attributed her good grades to the support of her teachers, parents, and god, without whom she believes, nothing is possible.
Kaieteur News was unable to make contact with the final of the top 10 performers- Parmeshivanie Seodat and Rafena Mustapha, students of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan, both of whom obtained 15 grade ones. But will feature them in a subsequent edition.
Following them with 14 grade ones and a grade two were Anna Regina Secondary School’s Teakaram Singh; Nabeeha Ali and Kezia Daniels of Queen’s College; Fatima Haniff of ISA Islamic Academy, as well as Anuradha Sookdeo and Romini Sukhai of Saraswati Vidya Niketan.
Securing 14 grade ones were Bibi Latiff of the Anna Regina Secondary School, Nicholas Elliot, Sayyid Rajab, and Sasha Woodroffe all of Queen’s College, and Muneshwar Singh of Saraswati Vidya Niketan.
Source: By Rehana Ahamad and Javone Vickerie https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2013/08/14/anna-regina-multilateral-tops-csec/