OF the 16,811 students who entered the National Grade Six Assessment

(NGSA), written on March 25 and 26 last, gaining the top position with a score of 548 marks was Salma Majeed of ISA Islamic Academy.
The second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth positions were all copped by students of Mae’s Under 12 school in Georgetown. Coming in second was Christian Pile with 547 marks; third was Navindra Persaud with 545; fourth was Ashtmi Natasha Deo with 543; fifth was Bradon Chanderban with 542; and sixth was Zane Ramotar with 541.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand made the announcement yesterday in the auditorium of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), in Kingston.
Sharing the sixth position was Leshanna Bindah of Stella Maris Primary and Abdur-Rahman Sattaur of Al Ghazali Islamic Academy, who each gained 541 marks.
The ninth position was shared by Divya Jagroo of Graham’s Hall Primary, Daniel Baldeo-Thorne of New Guyana School, and Renee Bisnauth of Cropper Primary, who each scored 540 marks.
The 12th position was gained by Maitri Vathada of Leonora Primary with 539 marks.
According to the minister, 241 candidates from schools in Regions 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 are eligible for entry into President’s College. Meanwhile, the cut-off score for Queen’s College is 525; for Bishop’s High it is 519; for St. Stanislaus College it is 515; for St. Rose’s High, 510; and for St. Joseph’s High, 506.
Manickchand said the NGSA candidates also wrote the National Grade Two Assessment in 2009 and the National Grade Four Assessment in 2011. The results released yesterday provided a report on the candidates’ overall performance at the three assessments.
A percentage of the marks gained at the Grade Two and the Grade Four Assessments was combined with the marks gained at the Grade Six Assessment in order to determine the candidates’ overall scores.
Five percent of each candidate’s Grade Two score in Mathematics and English, and 10 percent of the Grade Four score in the same subjects, were added to 85 percent of the candidate’s score in those subjects.
The combined scores in Mathematics and English were added to the scores gained in Science and Social Studies. The highest possible total score obtainable was 560.

TOP ONE PERCENT
Manickchand said the Education Ministry was very proud of all the students who took the examination, and was extremely pleased with the fact that they turned out to take it.
She extended congratulations not just to the candidates, but to their parents who worked with them and supported them. Furthermore, she thanked their teachers whom she said represented the backbone of the education system. Those persons who marked and supervised the exams were also acknowledged by the minister.
Manickchand informed that President Donald Ramotar was very pleased with the fact that the results could be announced this early. This time around is the earliest that the results have ever been released, Manickchand said.

‘LAPTOP’ GIFT FOR TOP STUDENTS
According to her, the President has decided to give to each child in the “Top One Percent” a laptop computer.
Meanwhile, the minister observed that Guyana has moved “leaps and bounds” as far as it relates to access to education. “We have attained Millennium Development Goal Number Two which is universal access to primary education. We have to work on the quality of education we are delivering. Now that we have every child in a classroom, effort has to be made to improve on what we are teaching,” Manickchand said.
She also related that Guyana has moved from having 30 percent of trained teachers to having 70 percent.
Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle, Manickchand pointed out that being a top performer does not mean that a child’s parents have to be wealthy or living under the best financial circumstances.
“All you need to be is a good parent. A good parent does not mean that you have to have money, it means you have to make sure meals are on time; make sure you find out what’s happening at your children’s school; make sure you sit down next to them while they’re doing their homework, even if you don’t know what the homework means. Just be a good parent and support your child and you will see these kinds of results,” she maintained.