–now aiming to become Civil Engineer

ASPIRING Civil Engineer, Abdul Subhan, who studied History only out of curiosity, managed to top the entire Caribbean in this subject area at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) level.

The 19-year-old from Bush Lot, Berbice, and former student of Saint Stanislaus College, during an interview with the Sunday Chronicle, said that at the time he decided to do CAPE, the school did not offer History. He was told that the school would facilitate him going to another school to study this subject, but in light of the pandemic, this did not materialise.

Still, his curious mind did not let that stop him. He took it upon himself to study at home since classes at the time were online-based. Subhan expressed that the COVID-19 pandemic did have a significant impact on his studies since his internet connection was not the best so he could rarely attend online classes.

“The internet service in my area basically limited the chances of me attending classes but, nevertheless, I would have used the textbooks to work on my own,” Subhan shared.

Additionally, he said that he only received help from a teacher with his School-Based Assessment (SBA) and studied on his own at home with the resources available to him. Therefore, he could not believe the outcome.
He said that he was surprised and happy when he heard the news as it shocked him. His family also shared the same feelings.

Subhan emphasised that he chose to study History because it is a very appealing subject to him.

“It helps you to understand the various aspects of the historical process in the Caribbean and how it affects us and influences Caribbean society today,” he shared.

To prepare for his exam, Subhan said he followed the syllabus objectives and read the prescribed texts, in addition to looking at YouTube videos. While sharing that there was not much of a difference between studying for CAPE and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, he said the only thing is that CAPE required a little more advanced and critical thinking skills.

Additionally, it tests more of your ability to apply yourself into situations as opposed to CSEC which is basically recording knowledge.

Subhan also did Sociology, Law, Geography, Caribbean Studies, Communication Studies, Integrated Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Entrepreneurship, Environment Science and Tourism at the CAPE level.

Subhan is currently studying to achieve a degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Guyana. He said that he intends to get into the field of entrepreneurship.

“Given the fact that Guyana would expect significant growth in investments, directly and indirectly from the oil and gas industry, there would be a great demand for entrepreneurial business ventures in construction and structural design,” he shared. (Cassandra Khan)