'Sharvaani determined to succeed'

A special assembly will be held this morning at Naparima Girls’ High School (NGHS) to celebrate 38 scholarship winners including President's Gold Medal winner Sharvaani Rampersad-Maharaj.

Rampersad-Maharaj, who left for Canada on Sunday where she is studying business at the University of Toronto, was one of two outstanding students who copped the President’s Medal by virtue of their results in the 2019 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). The other student is Celine Roodal of Lakshmi Girls' Hindu School.

NGHS principal Carolyn Bally-Gosine was speechless as she received the news after school was dismissed on Monday evening.

After 45 years at Naps, seven of them being a student, Bally-Gosine will be retiring next year and one of her students achieving the President’s Gold is the best parting gift she could receive. Her students received 17 open scholarships and 21 additional. In 2018 the school also picked up 18 open and 13 additional in six different subject areas.

At this year’s speech day on October 18, Gosine had expectations that the school was in line for scholarship recipients as she revealed there was a 100 per cent pass rate among the 102 students with 69 of them obtaining six or more distinctions in their units I and II combined. Of the 102 students, one obtained 12 distinctions, seven obtained ten, one obtained nine, 36 students obtained eight, 13 got seven and 11 others obtained six distinctions each.

In an interview with the Newsday following the results, Bally-Gosine said, “This is absolutely fantastic news.”

In her jubilation, she said, she went outside her office to share the good news with students who were still on the compound.

The principal said she was not surprised because Sharvaani was a determined and hard worker who continuously applied herself to succeed.

At the school’s Speech Day, she received the top awards for Accounting, Economics as well as the Linda Maharaj Prize for Leadership, the Beulah Meghu Memorial Trophy for Responsibility, the Patricia Ramgoolam Trophy for excellence at CAPE among other prize.

Sharvaani’s parents Dr Surenda Rampersad and his wife Nalini Rampersad-Maharaj, who operate a dental surgery practice were elated. So too were her younger siblings, Shruti, 18 a Upper Six student at NGHS, Aneesh, 13 who attends Presentation College, San Fernando and Vineet, 12 who attends Asja Boys.

Mom Nalini said she was not completely surprised by her daughter’s achievement as she has been a straight “A” student from kindergarten to High School.

“But she was never one to boast or even speak about her accomplishments. I never heard her say an examination was easy, it was always, 'it was good,' in a kind of half-hearted tone."

She credited her daughter’s success to her unwavering faith. A devout Hindu, Nalini said Sharvaani never stopped going to the Todd Street Mandir even when she was doing her exams.

“She was dedicated to the Mandir where she served as president of the Mandir’s Youth Group. She is a member of the Susan Mohip Dance group and she never stopped dancing. She was captain of her house, Cavell and did a lot of voluntary work, including helping the Venezuelan students at the La Romaine RC Church.”