PERFECT SCORE

THERE were unsure stares, unsteady heartbeats, withheld breaths, hands held in an almost death grip...and these were just the anxious mummies and daddies whose children wrote the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam two months ago.

Then there was jubilation when Saiesh Rampersad of the Gandhi Memorial Vedic School in San Juan was announced as placing first in the country scoring a perfect 100 per cent in SEA. He will attend Presentation College in Chaguanas from September. His classmate Jada Ramnath placed second and was placed in her first choice, St Augustine Girls’ High School.

This was the first time the school secured a first place in ten years of the SEA since 2008 when Ajay Rameshwarsingh placed first and passed for Presentation College, Chaguanas.

There were tears, but they were tears of joy, happiness and elation.

Small and seemingly shy, Saiesh said he was surprised, but elated.

“I didn’t expect to come first place, but I studied hard and prayed. It was a long journey but it got easier and easier. I did my school work and did extra lessons after school.” He plays the piano and the tabla and hopes to become a doctor after his studies because “I want to help people.” His father Dr Ramchand Rampersad said he had some expectations regarding his son’s exams and never had any problems with him with his studies. However, with almost 20,000 students writing the SEA, Rampersad felt sure other students performed just as well. He said with Saiesh and his brother Premnath, it was a balancing act.

“They had their tablets like every other child, but having to control the games, we had to face those challenges. We had to be firm at times. We never deprived him of these things. We controlled it in a manner that gave them enough relaxation to ensure that they spent enough time doing the academics and other extra curricular activities. He was never pushed... I actually receded coming to the end. I thought that six months before the exam he had peaked and there was very little more that he can do, and anything else than a less than perfect score would have been attributed to his mood on that day.”

Jada said she was excited and happy to be placed in her first choice. “I did not expect it because I was not too confident in all my answers, so I did not get my hopes up too high. I have always been dedicated to my work, but I took time off over the weekends,” she told the Newsday.

She was still undecided as to what career path she should follow.

Her father Dereck said Jada lost a lot of time in school due to illness.

“But she is so dedicated to her work, she would still call a friend to find out what they did in school so she could keep up to date.”

Her mother Elizabeth said she was proud of her daughter and thanked God for her. “We did not have to push her. Her teachers were the ones who were the backbones for the way she is.”

School principal Keshmani Dhaniram-Gosine said it was a wonderful achievement on the part of her students and teachers. She also taught the standard five students. “We have a nice relationship with each other. We build families here. It all comes from the motivation. I don’t want to say that we have strict policies that we adhere to, but we encourage them to be punctual and regular.

“Discipline is a big factor. We have zero tolerance for bullying. The children are all involved in co-curricular activities and my teachers lead by example. Those are the things that drive us to perform the way that we do.”