By Isanella Patoir
One week before Darshanie Persaud and her classmates were registered to write the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, their school was destroyed by fire. But as a result of the quick response from the government, the students were able to write the exams in the school’s auditorium.
Darshanie is this year’s top student at the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School; she wrote 11 subjects and gained 11 grade ones. The aspiring lawyer lives with her mother at Herstelling on the East Bank of Demerara.
Darshanie during an interview with the News Room explained that the constant power outages and poor internet connection proved challenging with online learning.
“Virtual classes were the only way we could have interacted with teachers. I had challenges with the internet sometimes and power outages but I still tried my best,” Darshanie said.
Darshanie was also the school’s top performer at the National Grade Nine assessment in 2019. Throughout her secondary education, she never attended extra lessons and is being raised by a single mother.
She plans to attend sixth form and then the University of Guyana where she will study law.
“I aspire to become a lawyer. My experience and background that I grew up in, crime and violence, I just want to help other people in those situations,” the young woman explained.
Darshanie said she created a study timetable and worked with her teachers and peers from Guyana and other Caribbean countries. This, she believes, greatly assisted her in performing well in her exams.
Darshanie is encouraging other students to focus on their studies.
“Keep motivated even though sometimes it may seem difficult, you still have to think about this stage now and think about your future.”
Meanwhile, a week before the 64 students at the school wrote their exams there was a massive fire that destroyed their classrooms, the ‘SMART’ Information Technology classroom, home economics room, and the library.
“Despite the challenges we would have faced by the recent fire, our students performed extremely well,” Deputy Headteacher Lokesh Persaud told the News Room.
He explained that over the years the school has been doing well and this is as a result of the teachers going above and beyond to work with students.
This year, the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School recorded an overall 81 per cent pass rate – that is students attaining grades one to three in 27 subject areas.
There was a 100 per cent pass rate in 13 subjects; five subjects saw 95 per cent passes, three subjects saw an 80 per cent pass rate while another three subject areas saw 70 per cent passes. Chemistry and Physics would have both recorded a 50 per cent pass rate.
Meanwhile, the school’s overall mathematics pass rate this year is 67 per cent and for English it is 95 per cent.
