COOL CENTRAL KID TOPS SEA

THERE were no screams, no tears and no jumping up and down. The only emotions 11-year-old Shivan Ramlochan could muster when he learned that he had topped the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination results, attaining full marks in each subject area was was shock, coupled with disbelief and later excitement. 

But for the diminutive Montrose Government Primary school student, who has also gained entrance to one of the nation’s top secondary schools — Presentation College, Chaguanas — the top honours came after months of hard work and the occasionally missed movie. Sporting a low hair cut and white school shirt bearing the signatures of several classmates, Ramlochan said while the SEA exam was “pretty tough,” he always felt that he would pass for the school of his first choice. “I remember talking to Miss Jack, my Standard 5 teacher, after the exams and telling her that I was confident about passing for Presentation College, and that was it,” he said. “So this morning when the principal Mr Sarafat said that I had come first in the country, I was definitely surprised,” Ramlochan added, with a small smile. He was also full of praise for teachers Dynese Jack and Ruth Brereton who “pushed everyone during the last leg toward the SEA exams.”

He also pointed out that several of his friends had also secured places at Presentation College. Ramlochan, who reads almost anything, including product labels, ingredients on cereal boxes and industrial booklets, also acknowledged the contributions of his parents, Ravi and Sharmila.  “My dad would help me polish up on maths while my mom would take me up in my vocabulary,” he said, adding that part of his evening routine at home included reviewing homework with his parents.  And, as for recreation, “Movies, preferably comedies. I don’t really look at television.”  And asked what career path was in sight for the budding academic, a shy Ramlochan said he was taking one step at a time. “I haven’t decided as yet, although I love Language Arts,” he said.

According to principal Zainool Sarafat, Ramlochan was the type of student who would excel at whatever goals were set before him. He described the young academic as “brilliant, disciplined, very cooperative and a willing student.”    Sarafat, who retires at the end of the week, said the achievement was the pinnacle of his decade-long career at the school.  A beaming Ravi Ramlochan admitted that his son’s achievement was “entirely unexpected.” “This morning when I asked Shivan if he was nervous, all he said was that he had done his best and that he wasn’t worried,” he said, adding that Shivan was “more calm than me.” That was a point endorsed by his mother Sharmila, who said Shivan is rarely ruffled by anything. “He is Mister Cool,” she said with a smile, “But when it comes to work, Shiv is always ahead of his work.”   What’s next for the young scholar? “Almost anything he puts his young mind to,” the proud mother stated. Last year young Abigail Maxwell from Curepe Anglican School scored 100 percent in each subject, passing for St Augustine Girls’ High School.