Tagore Memorial Secondary student Nitya Narine has made CSEC history, recording an unprecedented 26 Grade Ones and one Grade Two in the 2026 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations.
Nitya’s performance places her at the top of the preliminary list of Guyana’s 2026 CSEC top performers and establishes her as the student with the highest number of Grade Ones recorded in the country.
The remarkable achievement was highlighted by former Education Minister and current Minister of Local Government Priya Manickchand in a Facebook post congratulating the young Berbice student.
But Nitya’s path to the record began years before she entered secondary school.
Manickchand revealed that Nitya attended New Market Primary School but never spent a day in Grade Six.
In 2021, while still in Grade Five and at home during the COVID-19 lockdown, Nitya asked to sit the National Grade Six Assessment.
Manickchand said she granted permission after explaining to Nitya’s parents that the decision meant their daughter would have no second chance at the examination and would have to accept whichever secondary school she qualified for.
Nitya nevertheless took the challenge and aced the examination.
Her performance earned her a place at the Bishops’ High School, but she made the decision to remain in Berbice and attend Tagore Memorial Secondary instead.
Five years later, that decision has culminated in one of the most outstanding academic performances recorded by a Guyanese student.
And academics are only one part of Nitya’s accomplishments.
According to Manickchand, the young woman is also an accomplished artist and writer and has excelled in pursuits beyond the classroom.
In congratulating Nitya, Manickchand also praised her parents, Vishal and Susie, describing their role in their daughter’s success as “excellent parenting.”
Her record-breaking results now place the Tagore Memorial student among the country’s most outstanding young academic achievers with her journey, and whatever comes next, being closely watched.
As Manickchand put it in her congratulatory message: “Can’t wait to see all she will be.”
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