CSEC, CAPE top performers made ‘light work’ of exams

Guyanese students made light work of this year’s Caribbean Secondary Certificate Examinations (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) with some passing over 20 subjects.

Ramoll Baboolall of the Anna Regina Multilateral School in Region Two led the way with 27 CSEC subjects where he scored 24 grade ones and three grade twos as the preliminary results were disclosed on Monday by Education Minister Priya Manickchand.

27 subjects- Anna Regina Multilateral School, Ramoll Baboolall

Baboolall was followed close behind by his schoolmates Uotam Heeralall and Daniel Dowding who attained 25 subjects each. They scored 24 grade ones and one grade two and 22 grade ones and three grade twos respectively.

An elated Baboolall said, with confidence that he expected to do extremely well as he once topped the region when he wrote the grade six examinations. The future Bio-chemist said the key to his success was having the right mindset, knowing what he wanted and going after it.

However, he was cognisant of those who helped him along.

25 subjects – Anna Regina Multilateral School, Uotam Heeralall

“Thank you so much to the teachers from the Anna Regina Multilateral, teachers from Abram Zuil Secondary, and teachers from Charity Secondary who helped me to be where I am today. And also, to my mom who put so much into this. I would not have been standing in front of this camera if it wasn’t for her,” Baboolall stated.

Heeralall expressed similar sentiments as he outlined the key to his success was commitment and self-motivation. Nevertheless, for Heeralall, the journey has just begun.

“The reason I did so many subjects, was in order to get a scholarship so I can go overseas and further my studies,” the young man stated.

25 subjects – Anna Regina Multilateral School, Daniel Dowding

Dowding who also wrote 25 subjects described the journey as fun and exciting. The top student said he was inspired to take up the challenge of over two dozen subjects because of something he witnessed five years prior to him writing the exams.

“Since I was small, I was obsessed with academics. I would keep abreast with like what was happening in Grade Six, what is happening in CSEC. And the year 2017, Michael Gopaul did 25 subjects and I was very inspired by that,” he said despite having the challenge of preparing in a COVID-19 environment.

22 subjects- Queens College, Saskia Twahir

Saskia Twahir managed to cop 21 grade ones and one grade two at the CSEC exams. The Queen’s College student credited her success to her teachers as she found it difficult to study.

“I can’t physically sit down and read a book for that long so it was mainly between working past papers and having teachers. I really want to give a shoutout to my private tutors” Twahir stated.

Queens College-15 CAPE Subjects- UNIT 2, Bhedesh Persaud

Bhedesh Persaud, a Queen’s College student copped 15 passes in CAPE subjects, attaining 14 grade ones and one grade two. Persaud is, however, no stranger to top performance excelling in 2020 at CSEC and in 2021 in his first year doing CAPE.

He said it is a humbling feeling to know his hard work continues to pay dividends throughout the years. The young man said he aspires to venture into the engineering field.

“I really love the principles upon which engineering is built which are using knowledge to help solve problems, and advance humanity. In terms of civil engineering, I think it is the branch of engineering that would help me to have the biggest impact,” he said.

Berbice High School- 11 CAPE Subjects- UNIT 2, Vish Kistama

Vish Kistama from the Berbice High School secured grade one passes in 10 units and one grade two pass in one. He advises others to find suitable study methods that work for them.

“I would not go cliché and say work hard because I work smart and that is advice, I would like to give a lot of students. It is about knowing what study methods work for you. I tried a lot and each subject I add a different study method for. The point is you need to know what works for you,” he disclosed.

In 2022, CSEC examination preliminary results show overall pass rate moved from 66.3 per cent in 2021 to 68.5 per cent this year. There was also an increase in performance in CAPE with a pass rate of 93.22 per cent in 2022 compared to 90.86 in 2021.

The success of the students has been credited to the heavy investment government has made and continues to make in the education sector.

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