Region One students competing fiercely with coastland students – REdO

Regional Education Officer of Region One, Nigel Richards firmly believes that students in
Region One are fiercely competing with their peers from the coastal regions. This was the firm
view expressed by Richards during an interview with www.aroundtheregions.com recently.
He said that gone are the days when hinterland students barely passed a few subjects at CXC
with the top student achieving 5, 6 or even seven subjects. He said that since assuming the role of
Regional Education Officer for the past six years there has been significant and consistent
progress being made by both the teachers and students.
“Education has developed significantly in Region One. When I first came here six years  ago we
found that only a handful of students were getting two or three grade ones in their overall pass of
five, six and seven subjects but now we have found that several students are achieving seven,
eight and nine grade ones, REdO Richards said.
He disclosed that there continues to be significant improvement of both the CXC and NGSA
performances with several students garnering exceptionally high performances. “We find that
more students are achieving a lot more grade ones and on average several of them are achieving
more than five grade ones at a single sitting. I must say that despite the COVID 19 we have
achieved a 55% pass rate, and this is despite this year’s drop of six percent as last year the
students achieved an overall pass rate of 61%,” he disclosed.
Richards pointed out that for the six years that he has spent thus far within the Region he remains
confident that the students there can effectively compete in both NGSA and CXC. He said that
several poor performances that were associated with his region is now something of the past.
“I have been here for the past six years as the REdO and we are having children achieving 500s.
We may not  have secured the amount that we wanted but we found that each year our overall
performance continues to increase and this is compared to previous years where we had students
barely able to achieve in the 400s and scored significantly in the 200s and 300s,” Richards said.
He pointed out that his region has students who have secured several top secondary schools
nationally. He stressed that the region’s greatest challenge at the moment is being able to
increase the number of students securing senior secondary schools in Georgetown. This, he said,
has motivated them to remain determined.
“Can you believe that in Region One we have students securing eleven grade ones and this is
strange to many as in the past it never occurred,” he asked rhetorically.
REdO Richards said that several of the students excelling at CXC have been venturing forward
to the University of Guyana, as they seek to enhance and upgrade their academic pursuits. This,
he said, argues well for the region, noting that while they may be separated from Georgetown
and other regions by both water and land, they are still achieving impressive grades.

“I must say that before 2013 we barely got three, four or even five grade ones, but now we are
achieving nine, ten, eleven and twelve grade ones,” he declared.
The Region One born educator vowed to continue his work, stressing that his department along
with the teaching staff at the various secondary schools are all determined to increase and
improve their performances.
“This year we secured two students in the 500s and this is allowing us to secure several senior
secondary schools in Georgetown,” he reiterated.
Richards who said that he was born in Mabaruma but currently lives in Moruca, stressed about
his continued commitment Education. He gave the commitment of continuing his contributions
irrespective whichever region he is placed to work in.