Boy, 14, who passed 9 CSEC subjects now set on attending university

Rennard Overton is not your average 14-year-old. At just 13, he wrote nine subjects in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams this year and excelled. He now has his eyes set on attending the University of Guyana to pursue studies in technology. Rennard attained 3 Grade Ones, 3 Grade Twos, and 3 Grade Threes.

Just two years after he started his secondary education, Rennard has graduated.

“I wrote my exams when I was 13, but in July I turned 14. I aspired to be the best I can be, and ever since I was small, I had a grasp of technology. I love school. School has been a massive part of me, and that is probably the reason I am here because the teachers helped me grow exponentially,” Rennard said during an interview with the News Room.

He said his experience writing the exams at such a young age “is hard to explain because my mind was set on other things like running around and playing video games, but you wouldn’t expect a 14-year-old—well, I should say 13 at the time—to do nine subjects at CXC and pass all nine.”

But Rennard’s path to success was not an easy one. As he was preparing to write the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) two years ago during the challenging COVID period, he often battled with distractions like video games.

When the results came out, Rennard passed and attended Brickdam Secondary School.

“I planned not to let that grasp me down like that and prepared myself for the future, and I did an exam for placement to get into another school,” the young man explained.

After the placement exam did not give him the school he was hoping for, he then transferred to Pure Masters Academy, a private school.

“Now I am in second form at this point, and Pure Masters has led me up to this point where I feel very confident in myself, especially talking to people, as my teachers are very interactive with me.”

After he started at Pure Masters, the teachers there recognized his ability and approached his parents about placing him in a higher class. But what came next was a challenge that Rennard was prepared for.

“After, I think a week or two later, the school came and told my parents I was ready for CXC. It was like, you just did NGSA and now you are going to do CXC, and eventually, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to do nine subjects,” Rennard explained.

Meanwhile, the school’s Superintendent, Suvindra Koomal, said they recognized that Rennard was exceptional from the moment they met him.

“He was exceptional in the disciplines of mathematics and English. I think in the Caribbean, we underestimate how intelligent some of our young people are,” Koomal said.

He hopes more can be done to push certain levels of education in Guyana, “…not just in mathematics but in certain core areas that they would need to gain entry into the University of Guyana and to tertiary level education.”

Looking ahead, Rennard is focused on his future in technology.

“My initial plan is to go into university mostly because it will help me advance in tech. My journey was phenomenal; from down here to up here is an exponential gap for me that I suddenly jumped over, and I wish to see more people do it like me and even better,” the aspiring software engineer said.