–at National Grade Six Assessment

ELEVEN-year-old Latannie Shultz of St Therese Primary in New Amsterdam is the lone Berbician to have gained the highest points in a single subject at the recently-released National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) results, formerly referred to as the Common Entrance Examination.She achieved the highest possible standardised score of 138 points in English Language, and her overall performance has caused her to be awarded a place at the Bishops’ High School in Georgetown, one of the premier secondary schools in Guyana. She proved to be top of her game in Reading; Comprehension; Vocabulary; Structure and Mechanics; Content; Focus; Language and Organisation.

Even though she is the Ancient County’s lone pupil to have gained the highest points in English Language, this position was shared with Annalisa Charles and Marissa Mal of Leonora and Providence Primary schools respectively; along with Jordon Nelson and Bhanaymattie Harnauth who respectively attended the privately-owned New Guyana School and Success Elementary School.

Although a Ministry of Education (MoE) release has noted that this year’s performance in English Language has been consistent with what obtained in previous years, the MoE has since commenced collaboration with the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to improve the quality of all primary grade assessments. The objective of this consultation is to ensure that all assessments conform to regional and international test development and administration standards and expectations, in order to facilitate consistent, reliable measurement and tracking of pupils’ performance.

When the Guyana Chronicle caught up with this pre-teen at the office of her Headmistress, Surya Mahadeo, where she was summoned moments earlier, Latannie expressed relief that she was not about to be disciplined by the head teacher for being errant in some way. Moments earlier, teachers had gathered at the head teacher’s office with their ears pressed to a mobile phone to listen to the NGSA results during a live online broadcast, as it was not being aired on the National Communications Network in Berbice, as was promised. On hearing the name of their student mentioned among the top five English Language performers, they became jubilant and summoned the child to the office, where disciplinary action is taken quite often.

CELEBRATION
However, on this occasion, it was a time for celebration for the 11-year- old, who says she was greatly motivated after not placing at a regional spelling B competition which was held earlier in the year.

“After not securing a placement during the second term, I had to reassess my priorities. I had to study; I had to open those textbooks which were kept closed; I started to work on the past exam papers until about 11 pm each night. But it was not always study: there were instances when I cycled, and I love reading,” she mused while rubbing her palms together.

She had studied hard and had expectedly performed well, having secured 540 marks; but she was a tad disappointed at not being awarded a place at the prestigious Queen’s College, which required a minimum of 541 marks. Her marks have afforded her the sixth position in Region Six.

Recalling her performance at the exams, the Vryheid Village, West Canje resident noted that Mathematics Paper Two had been a challenge, as the formulas were not taught by her teachers. Nevertheless, she strategized to get at some of the answers. Therefore, she is encouraging her peers to “never say you can’t do it”. “I used to do so, but with encouragement from my parents and teachers I did it, and so can anyone else,” she concluded.

Her mother, Glenda Shultz, who had hurried to her daughter’s school on hearing the good news, was so overwhelmed that she shed tears of joy as she embraced the younger of her two children. And Headmistress Surya Mahadeo and class teacher Denise Christian both wished the high-flier well in her future endeavours.