Dear Editor,
From perfection to as close as perfection can be; and all in a single year. A score of Guyana’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) students making the improbable a reality. From all across Guyana, they sat, they scored, and they soared; 20 of them. They made us proud. From the Marian Academy, this year’s cohort of 63 NGSA students outdid themselves. They outdid expectations. They also outdid the competition. They made the Marian Academy family prouder than usual. Now, I invite Guyanese from all walks to absorb these numbers.
The national pass rate in Math was a steadily improving 59.80 percent. The Marian students’ math pass rate was an unworldly 95.40 percent. In English, the national pass rate was a healthy 73 percent. At Marian, the pass rate was a stellar 96.84 percent level. It was the same for Science – Marian at 95.74 percent, a high bar; the national level at 65.38 percent, improving all the time, getting there. Social Studies saw Marian students achieving a 94.58 percent pass rate, indicating considerable concentration and much absorption. The national average was 65.28 percent, a tidy climb with much effort manifested. The overall pass rate for the school was 95.69 percent. By any standards, it has to be seen as a platinum performance; ranking extremely well with the school’s performance in the last four years. By any measurement, however analyzed, these results have to represent a coherent and comprehensive display of dedication and aptitude, of a very rarified calibre. It is opportune, to switch now from the overall institutional scorecard to that of individual students.
Vir Narine fought his way into a place at the coveted Queen’s College with a total score of 99.87 percent. Cheslea Bunbury, Rafael Brayhwaite, and Aanya Wintz made into the over 99 percent ranks at 99.49 percent, 99.29 percent, and 99.29 percent respectively and cruised into the Bishops’ High School, another premier institution of secondary level learning in Guyana. It boggles the mind that with such outstanding scores, all over 99 percent, these three students did not get into prestigious Queen’s College. The competition is that tight. The margin of success that slender, and almost invisibly so. The difference for entering one school as opposed to another that precariously delicate. Almost intolerable to contemplate, very demanding to manage.
Eight Marian students finished above 98.50 percent overall. They secured spots at St Stanislaus, St Rose’s High, and St Joseph High. For a moment I thought that, given the names of those schools, these eight students are about to enter seminaries. This is today; that was another era. I owe a duty to these eight students to mention each one of them by name. They have earned the right to public accolade. Vihaan Kissoon (98.91 percent); Ella Fernandes (98.90 percent); Juan Diego Perdomo (also 98.90 percent); Joel Rambiriche (98.89 percent); Nitin Chainani (98.68 percent); Cattleya Melendez (98.54 percent); Sariah Samaroo (98.54 percent); and Aiden Tinnie (98.52 percent). I am tired. How I wish that I could name them all! But 50 more names would send even a trooper like me off the deep end. My regrets that the honour had to be passed by. It is my pleasure, though, to note a couple of names (Senor Perdomo and Senorita Melendez) that have a distinctive Spanish lineage. It is heartening to note that what sounds like the children of migrants-maybe from Cuba, maybe from Venezuela-could find a home in Guyana and flourish here. It would be inspiring if Guyanese have a couple of medical professionals in the making (perhaps a good handful more) from this Marian Academy batch of highfliers.
The 2025-2026 NGSA record of the Marian Academy speaks to the industry of students. It highlights the role of teachers and parents. It pronounces favourably upon a nurturing environment. It points to the hand of God extending grace to those specifically identified, as well as those that I wish I could have paid homage to, for their strenuous and unflagging efforts. It has been said that education is the key to Guyana’s future. The kingdom inches closer, looks plausible, even possible. This has been a special pleasure. I thank God for all these children and those who made these results possible.