TWELVE-year-old Reshan Rahim of St. Gabriel’s Primary has done it again, having been declared the winner, for the second consecutive time, when the scores were tabulated to see who placed in the top five in the Guyana Chronicle’s riveting online game, Master Mind.
Coming in second, which is quite an improvement on her last performance when she placed third with 1157 points, was Vannie Ramnarine of Montrose Primary, who gamely admitted to deliberately setting out to do better this time around, as she knew there was room for improvement once she set her mind to it.
“… I started to play the game every day. First, I used to miss out a few days, but I knew that once I was going to get a higher position, I would have to work harder” she said.
Now in the fifth month since its historic launch on May 12 at State House, the game also saw Shanae Hart of the New Guyana School take third place, having made up her mind she would do whatever it took to place among the top ten once again.
Said young Shanae, who placed second last time around with 1255 points: “I knew what I wanted, and I had to get it. And it came through for me.”
Then there was Morvina Jeffery, of St. Gabriel’s Primary, who unseated Onecia Bollers of St. Margaret’s Primary to place fourth, leaving the latter tailing in fifth place.
Noting that the game has helped her immensely with her end-of-term examination, Onecia said: “I hope just like how it helped me for my exams in school, it would assist me in coming out on top at the National Grade Six Examination the next time around.”
And while she’s found it to be quite challenging, she yet finds it interesting, and wishes to encourage other children to come on board the initiative, since she believes it is a good opportunity for them to be exposed to questions such as those posed in the game before their examinations.
Speaking at the late August presentation ceremony, the second to date, Chronicle General Manager, Mr. Nandkumar Puran urged those children present to continue making the effort to empower themselves by playing the educational online game.
“This is the second Master Mind Quiz Corner presentation, and so far it has been quite successful,” Puran said, adding:
“It’s a good thing to see that children are interested in an educational game, playing and winning every time for their efforts.”
And like Onecia Bollers, he also encouraged other children within the proposed age range to come on board the game and expand their thinking through the many questions that will challenge their young minds, thereby preparing them for future examinations.
On behalf of the Guyana Bank for Trade Industry and Commerce (GBTI), which has shown a keen interest in the project from its inception, Ms. Roma Narayan-Singh congratulated the winners, and said that the Bank, through its early savers programme, has decided to sponsor 50% of the prizes for the remainder of the year. Each of the top winners was awarded a gift certificate, courtesy of GBTI.
Students between the ages of 10-12 years are eligible to play the game, but to do so require their obtaining a copy of the Guyana Chronicle newspaper and filling out the coupon before submitting it to the Company.
Entry forms can be sent either directly to the Guyana Chronicle, or through the respective schools of participating students, with the stipulation that it must be sent with the written consent of their parents or guardians.
Once received, an account will be created in the player’s name, then he or she will be contacted with the relevant information. Players earn points in the game by answering each question, which is worth one point, correctly.   
Players are given 60 questions to answer each day, and at the end of every quarter, their scores are tallied and the highest scorers win prizes.
Through this undertaking, more children are expected to be educated about Guyana and other current events; have their computer and creative skills enhanced; be exposed to culturally-appropriate alternative online activities; and develop healthy life skills.
Some of the other entities supporting this initiative,financially, are NT Computec and Starr Computers among others.