Grant Memorial produces top SEA student again: Anusha wants to be brain surgeon

There was an atmosphere of excitement and celebration at three primary schools in San Fernando yesterday, after their students grabbed the top three places in the Secondary Entrance Examination (SEA). Topping the SEA exam was Anusha Saha, 11, of Grant Memorial Presbyterian Primary, while Riyad Rajan, 12, of TML Primary School, placed second and third was Aaliyah Webb, 12, of San Fernando Girls’ Government.

The news came as a shock to all three students and their parents, who only found out how well they had performed when it was announced  by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at their respective schools. Saha and Webb will be attending Naparima Girls’ High School while Rajan will be starting at Naparima Boys’ College. All three said they were excited about starting at their new schools in September.

It was the second consecutive year that South schools have grabbed the top three SEA places. Last year the top students came from Avocat Vedic School, Fyzabad, Grant Memorial Presbyterian School and TML Primary. Fifteen Grant Memorial students placed in the first 200. School principal Gillian Mahabir attributed the school’s academic success to holistic development, dedicated teachers, supportive parents, hard-working students and putting God first.

At TML Primary, Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh, who visited all three schools together with San Fernando West MP Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, said nine out of ten SEA students scored more than 50 per cent, eight out of 10 scored more than 60 per cent and this year only one per cent of students got less than 30 per cent, as opposed to 14 to 15 per cent in 2010.

Former attorney general Anand Ramlogan was also celebrating at the school, as his daughter Shweta passed for Asja Girls’. Principal Camille Hosein said copping second place was the best retirement gift for which she could have asked. Hosein, who has served 28 years in the teaching profession, boasted that out of the 68 students who wrote the exam 26 placed in the top 200. 

And at San Fernando Girls’, Webb’ who has entered several school and national calypso competitions, performed a calypso composed by her father. Six students from that school placed in the first 200. Her teacher Helen Dwarika described her as the perfect student.

Hard work pays off
Beaming with happiness, the top three SEA students, although from different schools, shared the same advice to upcoming SEA students: “Hard work pays off.” Future brain surgeon Anusha, the only child to her parents—Indian nationals Jayanta and Kuntyala Saha—said with hard work and perseverance success would follow.

“I want to thank everyone for my success. I would not have been able to do it without all my teachers and my parents, especially my mom. “I am very happy today and I know that my hard work really paid off,” said Anusha, who especially thanked her SEA teacher Nicole Subhanee. She said she wanted to become a brain surgeon because she liked “to do stuff like doctors and I am interested in doctors and science.” 

Anusha, who is also involved in chess, music, singing and spelling, will like to visit the US during her vacation. Promising to grant that wish, her father, an engineer, said they migrated to T&T 15 years ago when Anusha was two-and-half months old. Although confident he was going to do well, second place was not something Rajan expected. 

Aspiring to become an attorney, Rajan said: “I feel very proud of myself. I will like to thank every  one who has helped me. I did very few lessons and most of the work came from my teachers.” He thanked SEA teacher Shaheed Allaham and his other teachers.

PM promises auditorium 
In congratulating all 18,310 students who wrote SEA, Persad-Bissessar said: “This year a total of 74 boys and 126 girls placed in the top 200 students in the SEA. “Last year, T&T recorded the best academic performance ever in the history of all three exams, the SEA, the CSEC and the CAPE. In 2015, this year, the academic performance has surpassed last year, this year recording the best performance ever in the history of this exam.”

Speaking at Grant Memorial Presbyterian, she added: “It seems to me that this school must have a very special formula because you score so highly all the time. Strategy is very important and your strategy has been to be at the top and winning.

“I ask you to continue it but I also ask the Minister of Education to see and find out what is the strategy here, what is the model that is used, what is the formula that your school ends up ever so often in the top ranks of the SEA, so minister we could learn a lot from Grant Memorial.” She promised to build an auditorium for the school next year.