A tie for 3rd place in SEA exams

FAHIM KOTHDIWALA was shocked but elated when the SEA results were announced on Thursday. Not only was he placed at Presentation College, Chaguanas (his first choice) but he also tied for third place in the SEA national rankings with his Exchange Presbyterian schoolmate Prianka Ramlogan.

The last of three children, Fahim told Newsday he “studied hard, sometimes up to 11 pm.”

He got full marks in his favourite subject Mathematics, as well as in Creative Writing. He scored 95 in Language Arts and for his hard work he plans to “have fun during the vacation.”

He is also hoping his success will earn him a Slvr cell phone, which he has been wanting for some time now. His proud parents Naseeba and Naim promise the phone will be given to him as a reward for his hard work, together with “all the love in the world, which he is accustomed to.”

Naseeba said she was “totally grateful and happy for him” as she thinks his achievement will inspire him to be a better person. The mother who has been through SEA anxieties twice before said she prayed and hoped Fahim would have gotten his first choice. She described her son as “a bubbly, active child who is open and free spirited” and who like his brother and sister continues to make his parents “extremely happy”.

Naseeba was also high in praise for Fahim’s SEA teacher Wendy Gajadhar. Exchange Presbyterian, which is located in Couva, excelled in this year’s SEA Examination gaining 13 places in the first 100. Both Ramlogan and Kothdiwala, scored 246.227 marks.

Prianka, who will be attending Holy Faith Convent, Couva, plans to be an accountant while Fahim wants to be an engineer.

Principal Maureen Goolcharan, who will be retiring next March, said, “This was an ideal parting gift for me after serving the profession for nigh four decades.”

Goolcharan paid tribute to all members of staff particularly Wendy Gajadhar and Victoria Rampersad, teachers of the standard five class.