Girls outshine boys on A’ Level top ten list

ST JOSEPH’S Convent, St Joseph, and Bishop Anstey High School have both had the honour of having the most number of students — four — placing among the top ten students in the world based on the 2004 University of Cambridge International Examinations (A’ Levels). The list released by Cambridge showed that 38 local students were among the top ten ranking. There were a number of tied places in the listing. Of that number, 25 were girls, including the number one students in the world in Geography and Business Studies — Anushka Ramjag, who attended St Augustine Girls’ High School, and Maria Lawrencia Abdool of Holy Faith Convent, Couva. Mikkel Trestrail, who has been blind since age 11, was also on the list having placed seventh in Sociology. Dennis Ramdass of Naparima College, San Fernando had the distinction of being number one in Physics and also tied for seventh place in Mathematics, while Devon Kyle Indar of Presentation College, Chaguanas was  number one in Chemistry.

Kendell Rawle Richardson, who attended Carapichaima Senior Secondary Comprehensive, and Siemone Fortune of Pleasantville Senior Secondary Comprehensive, tied for number one in General Paper. Fatima Siwaju, a student of  Bishop’s, placed second in Spanish. She is now teaching Spanish and French at the school as a “break” before beginning studies in foreign languages. Like most of the other students, Siwaju said she was not expecting such an achievement and was “quite surprised and ecstatic.” She was high in praise for her teachers. Her three other schoolmates all ranked among the top five in English Literature. Damali Nicholls and Zindsziswe Morris-Alleyne both tied for fifth, while Candice Davis placed third. Morris-Alleyne is out of the country, but Davis told Newsday she was very happy and thanked her Literature teachers who “dedicated themselves and supported me.” She also thanked God. The Belmont teen plans to work for the next year before pursuing language studies.

Nicholls said Literature was her favourite subject and thanked the Literature teachers at Bishop’s, namely Ms Wood, Mulchan Singh and Eunice Patrick, who taught her in Lower Six. “I didn’t expect it but I had a lot of support from Stacia Yearwood, who placed sixth last year. She coached some of us and helped us with our technique in answering the questions.” Nicolls  grew up with her grandparents, since her mother died when she was young, and her father migrated to the UK. She said she will be taking SATs before applying to universities in Washington and Maryland to study international relations. Her grandfather is Newsday columnist George Alleyne. An official at Bishop’s said it was the first time the school had four students on the top ten list and was very proud of the achievement. Sister Philip Geofroy, principal at St Joseph’s Convent, St Joseph, said she was proud of her school’s performance especially since it was also the first year so many of the students made it on the top ten list.

Shinelle Melanie Sant placed third in Further Mathematics, Kimberly Anya Ibrahim placed eighth in French and Tamara Camille Maharajh and Saadia Sasha Ali both placed ninth in Geography and Biology respectively. St Francois Girls’ College had a lone placing on the list, in the person of Keisha Sealey. She placed third in Sociology. Principal Patricia McIntosh told Newsday that of the 29 students who did the Advance Level exams, 12 got As, four Bs and five Cs. She said teacher Tricia Ragbir really worked hard and was aiming to get a lot more students among the top ten. William Carter, principal of Queen’s Royal College, also expressed his approval of the performances of Chase Modeste and Andwele Rodgers, who both tied for tenth in General Paper. He said it was the first ranking for the school in that subject. Chase is now teaching at Presentation College, Chaguanas. Hillview College was also celebrating the placings of Danielle Allum, eighth in Geography, and Anning Hoo’s seventh placed tie in Mathematics, as was St Joseph’s Convent, Port-of-Spain, with Nadine Penny’s ninth place in Geography. The students will be celebrated at the Hilton Trinidad on Monday evening. (See Pages 5 and 9)