WHEN 11-year-old Reyon Hersham was admitted to hospital for a snake bite days before he was scheduled to write the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), he felt sad, and was worried about how it would affect his placement at a secondary school in September.

So, when the Bagotsville Primary School pupil was offered the opportunity to write the exam in hospital, he did not hesitate to accept it.

“He was crying when he went to the hospital, and when they said they had to admit him, he was talking about his exam and so on. When I went and told him that he will get to write it in the hospital, he was very happy. But right now, all he wants is to come home, because he misses his two sisters,” Reyon’s mother, Bibi Hassan shared in a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle.

Reyon was bitten by the snake while on his way home on a Saturday night. He was walking through a bushy section of the impoverished community of Pump Dam, in Skull City, Patentia, West Bank Demerara, where he lives with his mother and six and nine-year-old sisters.

“I was home when he came and said something bite him and crawled in the bush, and I called a taxi and carried him straight to the hospital, because the foot was swelling. When I took him to the hospital, the doctor examined him and took some blood test, and then they admit him,” Reyon’s mummy said, adding:

“Like any parent, I felt bad that he got bitten by a snake, especially because is since Saturday he has been in the hospital. It has been one week now he’s in the hospital, but they said he’s going to be okay; they’re just waiting now for the foot to go down, so that they can discharge him.”

A single mother who did not get to complete secondary school, the 44-year-old Ms. Hassan is making every effort to ensure that her children get the best education.

“Education is 100 per cent important to me, because I can’t read and write properly, and I want them to be able to do that for themselves. Sometimes they tell me read a book for them, and certain words I can’t call it out. So, I am very glad for them to be able to have a proper education,” she shared.

In addition to his physical health, Ms. Hassan was initially worried about how the hospitalisation was going to affect Reyon’s education.

“I am a single parent; it’s very hard. I used to do security work, but I lose the work, so right now I do a little domestic work. I just try; and everything I do, I do for my three children. Everything I do is to make sure that they’re okay, and that they go to school okay,” she commented.

Consisting of examinations in Mathematics, English Language, Science and Social Studies, the NGSA is a crucial ‘exam’, as it determines the placement of pupils at a secondary school. Reyon is hoping to do well enough to attain at least a place at the Patentia Secondary School, something he would not have been able to attain if he had not written his examinations.

Ms. Hassan was ecstatic when Reyon, who is currently a patient at the West Demerara Regional Hospital, was able to write his NGSA like all his fellow peers on July 6 and 7. This was thanks to special arrangements that were put in place by the Ministry of Education (MoE).

“I was worried about him and missing the ‘exam’. I went to the headmistress [of the Bagotville Primary School] and I told her what is going on, and she said, ‘Okay.’ And she made some calls, and she told me that the ministry would send somebody for him to write his ‘exam’ at the hospital. I felt so happy that he was able to still write his exam,” Hassan added.

Hassan shared that she is profusely grateful to the ministry for making it possible for Reyon to still be able to write his exam despite the circumstances.

“I just wanted to say to them, ‘Thank you,’ because it could’ve happened to anybody else, or somebody’s child could be sick or so on. So, I want to thank them that at least children can get to write their exams,” she added.