…wants to return to Guyana to change how students view physics
By Lisa Hamilton
Guyana has topped the Caribbean Region for the best performing Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) student who has been revealed as Zane Ramotar from Queen’s College who secured 14 Grade Ones, and 1 Grade Two.
As a result, Guyana will receive two out of the seven top awards administered by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) for CAPE students. These will both go to Ramotar for Best Student in Overall Performance and Best Performer in Natural Sciences.
Speaking with the media following the official announcement of the results on Wednesday, Ramotar said that he is relieved that the results have been announced despite the hiccup experienced across the Region with the CXC facilitated examination.
“I feel happy for this academic period to finally come to an end. I’ve actually been out of school for almost six months now so, to have this being declared now it’s feeling good to finally get some closure,” he said.
Though Ramotar is not yet certain about the specific job he’d like to pursue, he is interested in the physics field. He said that he is mulling the idea of becoming a physics lecturer or, perhaps, a general physicist. He has been accepted to the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California.
Even so, he told reporters that his plan is to eventually return to Guyana to contribute to his country especially with regards to changing the perspective of students to physics.
Giving his advice to other students preparing to write CAPE, he said: “You can’t really replicate what a particular top student did in order to succeed, in terms of how they studied. You have to sit down and figure out what you’re good and at, what you’re bad at and study accordingly. Some people require flashcards, some people require highlighters, you got to figure out what works on you and build it, develop it, use it to crush the exams.”
The star student said though COVID-19 definitely affected the way in which education was delivered, he did not feel majorly affected as it related to exam preparation. He said that Guyana adapted to the pandemic and so did he.
Ramotar comes with many surprises as he is currently teaching mathematics at Queen’s College as he prepares to head to USC.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s second top performer at CAPE is Naomi Cambridge from St. Rose’s High who secured 12 Ones, 2 Twos, 1 Three and 1 Four. She told the Village Voice News that she is pleased with her results.
“It was quite difficult because it was hard adjusting from normal in-school sessions to online. It turned out for me quite successful but, at first, I was disappointed because we had the six months waiting period on CXC to bring forward the results,” she said.
Cambridge now plans to pursue further studies in engineering by attending university in 2022. She is still researching to determine her best possible option. Her advice to other students preparing for the exams was: “Trust God and trust the process.”
Guyana’s third top performer is Christian Pile of Queen’s College who received 11 Ones, 1 Two and 1 Three. He too told reporters that he was pleased with his performance and looks forward to contributing to his country.
The other 7 students who performed well during in CAPE that now make up the country’s top ten are: Sherlock Langevine JR of St Stanislaus College — 11 Ones, 8 Twos; Donnelle Pyle of St Stanislaus College — 9 Ones, 3 Twos, 2 Threes, 4 Fours; Nicolas Ally of Bishops’ High — 11 Ones, 1 Two; Zharal Hollingsworth of Bishops’ High — 10 Ones, 1 Two; Carl Gilford of Bishops’ High — 10 Ones, 1 Three; Stefan Hamilton of Bishops’ High — 7 Ones, 3 Twos, 2 Threes, 1 Four; and Raseda Hack of Queen’s College — 11 Ones, 1 Two, 1 Three, 3 Fours
Zharal Hollingsworth also spoke with the Village Voice News. He said that he was pleased with the results he received.
“I have to say that I’m pretty happy about my performance. Overall, I would say that it’s been a hard year for both the effects and the things that happened to us — the COVID, the politics. But, I’m thankful for my teachers and my school for being able to switch up from the in-class learning to online learning so efficiently and so effectively,” he said. Hollingsworth also thanked his family and friends for their support.
