Scoring a CXC Grade One at age 14

By Jomo Paul

While more than half of the country wrote CSEC General Proficiency Mathematic at the ages of sixteen and seventeen were unable to attain a Grade Three or higher, Cameron along with another student – Alex Gangadin celebrate because they overcame the hurdle of Mathematics.

Data released by Guyana’s Ministry of Education showed that just over 45% of students sitting Mathematics were able to pass the subject; however while the 2015 statistic is worrying, it is an improvement from 2014 which saw a pass rate of 38.7%.

Eighteen months ago, neither Cameron nor Gangadin would have thought they would be celebrating passing CSEC at Third Form, since both of them have just about two more years before they are regulated to sit the examinations.

I spoke with the two youngsters and a few others who would have also done amazingly well at CSEC at their tender ages.

All elated, they told the same mono-script tale of having to study late nights, early morning lessons and having to make some major sacrifices to achieve the goals they did.

“My name is Alex Gangadin; I am fourteen years old… I feel overjoyed because it was hard – working to pass Maths….late night lessons…my parents are proud; they always wanted me to pass.”

He wants to go to the University of Guyana where he says he will study medicine with the aim of one day becoming a heart surgeon.

Cameron truly believes that she would not have done well at Mathematics, though she was handpicked to write the subject by her educators at Morgan’s Learning Centre (MLC).

“People usually say that Mathematics is a hard subject to write, that’s why,” she says.

But while Cameron is considering tackling those subjects next year, other students from MLC have already written them and are beaming with excitement having secured their own passes.

Malachi Adonis, 15-year-old is very excited, having earned his straight A – Grade One for Principle of Accounts.

“I feel very excited because all the hard work pays off – normally Sir (Morgan) pushes you until you get it right…normally I really do good at calculation subjects. But I don’t think I was ready for Math,” said Adonis.

Ryan Wilson – like Adonis – also secured a Grade one pass in Principles of Accounts; to his own credit he later confirms that he is a “computer geek.”

“I wrote Accounts because it seems to be an easy subject – the way Sir teaches it,” he said.

Several other students from the institution were also able to sit the examinations earlier than they should and secured Grade One and Grade Two passes.

Orin Morgan, the Principal, explained that the key to having successful students is paying attention the little details in their work.

“At MLC we do not leave the students behind, we given them the opportunity to person. We are not leaving the weaker students behind…they are ordinary students doing extraordinary things,” said Morgan.