According to Enkofi Moses, if his teachers had not taken the time to know him, then he would not have been the first Company Road Primary student to earn a place at Queen’s College in more than a decade.
The majority of his classmates have also done rather well, with 10 out of the 26 who wrote the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) this year securing places at top secondary schools such as the Bishops’ High School, President’s College and Annandale Secondary School.
“The main thing is the teachers. I don’t think any other teachers would’ve pushed us to get the results that we did,” he told Sunday Stabroek during an interview.
Moses, who earned 524 marks out of a possible 536 at the recently concluded NGSA, has already seen quite a bit of Guyana.
“I was born in Berbice and did my first year of Nursery there. When we moved to Buxton, I went to Lusignan Nursery and then Company Road,” he shared, before adding that as a student at Company Road, he was “into sports,” especially running.
From Grade One to Grade Four, he happily represented B House during the inter-house sports. However, once he entered Grade Five, he and his parents took the decision to focus only on school work and he began dedicating at least three hours outside of school to studying.
“I would spend one hour in the morning before school and then about two hours in the evening,” he said, before adding that once he wrote the exam, he was happy to relax and finally feel properly refreshed.
He expressed gratitude to God, his church family at Arundel Congregation and his parents, whom he said gave him everything he needed and more including the love and support to do his best.
His most effusive praise was, however, reserved for his teachers. All of them, from Grade One to Grade Six are villagers as is his extra lessons teacher, Yolanda Stoby. His Grade Six class teacher was Pearl Freeman.
“The teachers were very, very kind. They took the time to get to know the students; to teach at their level; to think and feel as the children and they put themselves in the children’s position. They broke the content down to the smallest detail and worked with each child to enhance their skills. The teachers are from Buxton. They’ve been in the community for quite a while. They know the village and the students and worked with us,” Moses emphasised.
His mother, Wataka Moses, was equally pleased with the teaching he received.
“He was supported well. I knew he was doing well because I engaged his teachers consistently and supported the work they were doing with him,” she noted.
Though she expected good things, she still finds the results surreal.
“It’s still sinking in and [I’m] trying to remain calm. I’m not sure if I should scream or not,” the excited parent related.
While his mother is still trying to come to terms with the reality of his results, Moses is certain of what he wants to do with his life. He has been certain since he was four years old.
“While we still lived in Fryrish, I watched my uncle fix his car and fell in love with how different parts come together to power a machine. I loved it. I love everything about mechanical engineering and that’s the dream I’m pursuing,” he shared.
The last Company Road student to earn a place at Queen’s College was Abiki Amsterdam, who wrote the examinations in 2008.
