THE National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) is the gateway into the secondary education system; it is a time when children ages 11-12 pour the knowledge they have gathered over their five years in primary school to be placed in schools that would better allow them to develop and pursue their education interests.

This year, 11-year-old Nitya Narine of Region Six (East Berbice- Corentyne) decided to try an unorthodox method and sat the 2021 exams, instead of waiting until next year – albeit while schools were closed as the country battled the COVID-19 pandemic.

But why would anyone want to write an exam a year before they are scheduled to? The answer was simple; Nitya was always an overachiever and has consistently excelled at all her exams.
As a matter of fact, her parents – both teachers at the Tagore Memorial Secondary with 31 years of experience under their belts – say she was always gifted.

Her father Vishal told this newspaper that Nitya represented the Babylon Nursery school at a science fair and secured the second-place title; similarly in 2018, in Grade Two, she represented the New Market Primary at the Regional and National Science Fairs and walked away the first-place winner.

So, having her write the NGSA this year was a no-brainer; they knew she would excel – and excel she did.
Nitya told the Sunday Chronicle that while she had her sights set on Queen’s College, she is extremely happy to have secured a place at the Bishops’ High school after gaining 509 marks at the 2021 exams.

She is still to decide on a career in the legal or medical field, noting that this new journey will allow her to make an exact decision on her future.

EXAM PREPARATION
Speaking about preparation for the examinations, Nitya said she had to develop a structure utilising the resources provided by the Ministry of Education (MoE), coupled with resources made available by her parents to ensure her success. She noted that several MoE initiatives such as “QuizMe, and the Guyana Learning Channel” came in handy to prepare her for the exams.

“I made a study timetable and every day I worked with it. I worked on QuizMe and I watched a few of the Learning Channel videos, but I didn’t get to watch all of them.

“I think I would have done better if I [had] looked at the other videos. But I’d advise students writing the exams next year to also have a study timetable, work the quizzes, work all the worksheets, and watch all the videos, so that they can also do good,” Nitya said.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the way education is accessed across the globe and in Guyana, teachers were forced to conduct classes online

Nitya stated that she did not face many challenges with virtual learning as it gave her many opportunities that were not present in face-to-face learning, the most notable being the ability to attend classes for both Grades Five and Six.

This, she stated, gave her an advantage as she was able to get the preparatory classes in Grade Five and get added learning resources from the Grade Six sessions.

SUPPORT SYSTEM
The top performer told the Sunday Chronicle that she had immense support from her parents Vishal and Fareza, which allowed her the confidence to face the examinations while being in only Grade Five.

Vishal beamed with pride at his daughter’s performance at the NGSA. He described his daughter’s performance as a “major accomplishment,” noting that she has always been disciplined and dedicated to academic excellence.

Narine stated that Nitya was the one who alerted them of her eagerness to sit the NGSA while still in Grade Five, after which he reached out to the Ministry of Education and requested permission for her to sit the exams. According to Narine, Nitya scored a 90 percent average at the mock exams, which further signalled her readiness for the NGSA.

Narine stated that he, along with his wife, took turns working with Nitya to ensure that she had the best opportunity to achieve her goal.

“She’s a child that really likes the virtual learning; she likes the computer learning, YouTube learning and things like that, but one of the things we managed to do as parents is, we have been providing her with all the necessary resource materials, textbooks and any other thing that she would need.”

TALENTED
Narine described his daughter as “talented,” noting that while she has expressed interest in becoming a lawyer or a doctor, she has also shown great promise and interest in being involved in the arts.

As a family, they have always allowed Nitya to embrace her creative side as much as her academic side, as he believes it will help her develop into a more rounded individual. The proud father said he intends to continue supporting the growth of her abilities both in academia and in creativity, as he understands the major impact one will have on the other as she continues to grow and navigate life.

“She is a very gifted artist; she does some amazing paintings, but she is also very intelligent. When we got the results yesterday, we were very proud of her.

“We mentioned to her even before the results came out that no matter what school she got, we were proud of her. She’s a very disciplined child. Most of the time she learns by herself, it’s not as if we have to be there with her all of the time. She’s very disciplined that she could sit with her books and work along by herself.”