QC’s Jonelle James tops Guyana at CAPE

By Tiffany Bowen

Seventeen-year-old Jonelle James of Queens College (QC) has topped the country at this year’s Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) securing five grade one passes in Biology, Caribbean Studies, Chemistry, Food and Nutrition and Pure Mathematics. The results were announced on Wednesday by Education Minister Priya Manickchand at a press conference.

Minister Manickchand said she was elated with the improvement in students’ performance at the examinations, noting that the country has secured an 86.2 per cent pass rate this year. So overjoyed, she opted to pay an unannounced visit to the homes of two of the top candidates just after announcing the results.
She said that her ministry will not take all the credit for the success, but thanked the candidates’ parents and their teachers. Guyana Times International was unable to speak with James, who is presently on vacation in the United States. However, her jubilant mother Clairann James said that her daughter learnt of her success after it was released on the Internet Tuesday night. She explained that James contacted her Wednesday morning screaming and thrilled about her achievements.
Asked whether the family was expecting such grades, the mother noted that James was always a “highflyer”, but topping the country at CAPE was not anticipated.
James is expected to celebrate her accomplishments with several of her classmates, who are also on vocation in the U. S. Navindra Baldeo, of Blygezght Gardens, Georgetown, who secured the second position in the country, was one of the students the minister visited.
During an interview with this publication, Baldeo said that his success did not come as a surprise. “I am not this kind of person who fanaticises about my achievements, I just want to remain focus and continue with my studies. It’s about a mindset, that’s just basically it. What you put your mind to, you can do it.”
Further, the introverted Baldeo posited that the examinations were nothing hard, but called for focus, which he stated was a huge transition for him. “It was a huge transition for me after just completing my Caribbean Secondary Education Council Certificate (CSEC)”.
Questioned about his preparation leading up to the exams, the 19-year-old QC student said that he give up several hobbies while maintaining a balance in his daily activities.
Come September, he will be attending the University of the West Indies (UWI) to study Medicine, a scholarship he was offered after completing his CSEC exams last year.
Baldeo, like most of the students, received notifications on their success from the release posted on the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) website. Baldeo secured grade one passes in Caribbean Studies, Biology, and Environmental Science and a grade three pass in Pure Mathematics.
Christopher Chinnatambi, 18, also of QC, said he was surprised and never thought he would be among the top performers at CAPE. The young man said he is anxious to continue his studies, and would be attending the University of Guyana to read for a degree in Chemistry or Medicine.