Words could not describe the thoughts and emotions of 11-year-old Anthony Ferreira when he learnt that he was one of Guyana’s top students for this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), securing the coveted position and gaining entrance to one of the country’s most prestigious institutions, Queen’s College.
Ferreira, along with Aryan Singh of Dharmic Rama Krishna Primary got 568 marks each.
An aspiring technological engineer, Ferreira stated that his accomplishment took him by surprise as he did not expect to have copped the number one spot in Guyana though he was confident that he would have done well.
“I was expecting to get a top school but not so far up… I feel great about my accomplishment, I am overjoyed about getting 1st in the country. I felt like I was going to do great like getting in the top 10 but not exactly getting 1st in the country…thank you so much to my parents, teachers, they helped me throughout the way, I prayed every night and it came through,” the young boy posited.
His advice to other students who will be sitting the NGSA examinations next year is to ensure that they focus solely on their studies and put aside distractions.
“I would probably tell them to respect their parents, because their parents would give them choices even though they may not like it, like giving up their games and their phones or maybe just giving up a little bit time on the TV to study more. They need to focus on their work really hard, they can’t focus on anything else. They have to be totally focused on their work,” Ferreira added.
Meanwhile, his parents who were present at his school when INews arrived today, were overjoyed and excited that their son aced the examinations and achieved such a great and memorable feat.
His mother, Ramona, stated that she was at a loss for words to explain her joy and satisfaction to see her son reap such successes.
“I feel overjoyed, absolutely overjoyed, words can’t explain how happy I am. He worked very hard, he made a lot of sacrifices, to get to where he is today. He gave up his favourite thing which is his video game, he gave them up for a whole year…he gave up his phone and he made a lot of sacrifices,” the excited mother said.
She added that there were many late nights with lots of hard work that her young son had put in over the past year in order to prepare for the NGSA this year.
“He has always been a good student, a dedicated worker, always strived to be the best,” Ramona posited.
