When he was asked to repeat Grade Ten, Joshua Alphonso was not too pleased, but with the support of his family and teachers, he made an about turn in his grades and went on to pass all of the subjects he wrote at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Exams and finish as his school’s top student.
It was Alphonso’s overjoyed and proud teachers of Wauna Primary Top School in Region One (Barima-Waini), who reached out to Stabroek Weekend to have the student’s accomplishments highlighted.
Alphonso wrote just the six subjects provided at the school and gained grade twos in Agricultural Science, English Language, Human and Social Biology and Integrated Science as well as grade threes in Mathematics and Social Studies.
Wauna Primary Top caters for students who did not gain enough marks at the National Grade Six Assessment to secure a place at a secondary school. Therefore, for Alphonso’s teachers, his accomplishments are a milestone. Not only was he the top performer of the 33 students of his school who wrote the CSEC exams, but he was the only one who passed Mathematics.
Alphonso’s younger sister Shannen Marcus also wrote the exams, though she did so as a student of North West Secondary School. The teen, who will be celebrating his 18th birthday next month, explained that his sister started Grade Ten the same year he was doing the grade a second time. Marcus sat ten subjects at her CSEC exams and obtained passes in all as well.
A couple weeks ago when Alphonso learnt of his results, he experienced several emotions including joy, relief and surprise. He did not expect to do well, particularly in Mathematics. His father, he said, was very happy that his son who had only done well enough to attend a primary-top school was able to secure passes at CSEC and could go on to pursue a career within the public sector if he so desired.
“Before I heard of my results, I was nervous,” Alphonso said. “My sister saw her results first and then I saw her start to cry. I wasn’t sure whether it was because she was happy or disappointed, but when I saw that, I got extra nervous. I didn’t get my results same time with her and planned to check online for it. But, then my father call me back before I could head upstairs and as soon as I saw his face, I already know that I passed all. As soon as I saw four grade 2s and two grade 3s, I thanked God for all that I was able to achieve.”
It was no walk in the park for the teen who said that while his father having him stay back at year in school was the best thing for him, he didn’t entirely see that at the time. He shared that the extra year in school prepared him better for the exams though he noted he still had quite some work to do when it came to Maths. In the runup to the exam dates, he and his sister would sit in a quiet part of the house studying for a couple of hours every night then they would take turns testing each other on the topics reviewed. About three weeks before his examinations, he stopped attending school to focus on the topics he knew he needed to revise more. Alphonso said the only thing he did not stop were his Maths lessons.
Along with the work he was putting in, Alphonso said, his father, who is a pastor, has always encouraged him to remain prayerful which he did so his success, in spite of the work he put in, had God’s hand in it also. God helped him understand his work, he shared, adding that every time he prayed, he asked for wisdom and understanding.
Asked whether he thought he could have done better, the teen said yes. Not because he thought he could have studied more or anything of that sort, but because of what occurred during the Integrated Science exams. Alphonso shared that for part of the exam he needed his calculator, but it conked out just when he was getting started which prevented him from completing it.
He was among the first batch to benefit from the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) virtual reinforcement lessons that were rolled out across the country in Mathematics, English Language, Integrated Science and Social Studies. One of Alphonso’s teachers, Travis Chu, said he believes the lessons played a phenomenal part in the teen’s success at the exams.
Alphonso said that though schools had closed owing to COVID-19, it was not very challenging as after the first few months, measures were put in place to ensure 10th and 11th graders could attend school in a safe environment to prepare for CSEC. He noted that at first, he was scared about getting the virus but after some months, he was less worried as he saw that persons in his area who had contracted the virus were recovering. In spite of this, he still kept his distance and wore face masks. His teachers, he said, also gave them hand sanitizers that were provided by the MoE.
Both Alphonso and his sister are pursuing careers in teaching. Marcus has already enrolled at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) where she is currently pursuing studies online. Alphonso intends to enrol at the beginning of the next school year. With Integrated Science being his best subject, the teen will be applying to teach at Wauna Primary Top soon, until he is ready to attend CPCE. Following CPCE, Alphonso said, he will move to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Education at the University of Guyana.
