THE top 10 students from Region 10, who were recently honoured and were recipients of bursaries from Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry, gave high credits to the gifted programme; a special initiative that targeted high performers, for their success.
The students were awarded bursaries, complements of Ansa McAL, as they prepare for a new life in Georgetown, for the September school term.

The students who hail from six different primary schools across Linden, related that the Ministry of Education’s programme, which was held on Saturdays, played an integral role in helping them to achieve their goals, and the assigned teachers, ensured that they not only learned, but had fun doing it. In that way, the reinforced concepts, were easier to remember.

The top students for Region 10; Jasmine Simpson from One Mile Primary and Ravi Rayman from Regma Primary, who both gained 523 marks, were awarded places at Queen’s College. The other top 10 students are Taniya Spencer from Watooka Day Primary; Tashaunsia Alder from Royal Halls of Learning; Jarem Fraser from One Mile Primary; Erykah Roberts from Watooka Day Primary; Janae Bristol from Regma Primary; Ashanti Balgobin from Amelia’s Ward Primary; Shaquon Ross from Christianburg Primary and Yaneil Easton from Royal Halls of Learning.

Top student Jasmine Simpson, related that the programme was 100 per cent effective in reinforcing the topics and enabling her to understand them better. The overwhelmed and ecstatic Simpson said though she had lots of homework which caused sleepless nights, hard work and tiresome days, the sacrifice did pay off. Her encouragement to other upcoming pupils was, “no matter how hard the going gets, just keep going.”
Tying for the top spot as well is Ravi Raymond, who said that the programme was very effective since it was away from the formal classroom setting and reinforced the concepts in a more fun way. “We had fun learning, we had assistance with our homework and so on,” he said.

Regma Primary’s Janae Bristol, who gained 515 marks and was awarded a place at Bishop’s High related, “the programme was a very effective programme. Some stuff that we did not do in Grades One to Five, they taught us, so that we could remember it,”
In explaining her preparation experience, Bristol said, “I worked really hard but I had a lot of help from my very supportive teachers and my friends were there to help me along the way,”

Her encouragement to other students is to create a balance and believe in yourself. “When you have the balance and the courage and strength, you can do it, all you have to do is believe in yourself. Don’t listen to what anybody else [Say], if you know that you can do it, then you can do it. You just have to find it in here and that you are strong above anything and you will succeed.”

The pupils were encouraged by Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry, who assured the pupils that the ministry is working overtime to ensure that all schools – whether on the coastland or on the hinterland – are positioned to deliver satisfactory results. “I want to assure you that every school in Guyana, we’re placing emphasis on, because what we want is to have a system whereby, irrespective of the school assigned to a child, that child should be able to meet his or her full potential based on what is being offered and delivered at the schools,” she noted.

This role is not only allotted to the ministry, she said, but to parents as well and urged them to collaborate with the teachers in ensuring that children, reap the success they have the ability to achieve. “I want to encourage you parents to play a larger role in the lives of your children, particularly when it comes to providing the supervision and the guidance that is needed,” she said.

Eight hundred forty nine students wrote NGSA in 2019 compared to 779 in 2018. Mathematics saw 58.8 per cent students passing, which represents a 4.8 per cent increase from 2018. English saw 74.5 per cent pass rate which is a 3.6 per cent decrease from 2018. Science saw a 60 per cent pass rate with a 3.1 per cent decrease and Social Studies saw a 56.5 per cent pass rate with a 9.5 per cent decrease compared to 2018.