Ethan Henriques: the 9-year-old who conquered NGSA & is now heading to Queen’s College

By Tamica Joseph

Though most children in Guyana sit the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) at 11 or 12 years old, the 2026 top-performing pupil of Genesis Early Childhood Education Centre (GECEC), Ethan Henriques, rewrote the script with his exceptional academic ability. A soft-spoken youngster, Ethan was just eight years old when he wrote the 2026 NGSA in April, and notwithstanding his short stature, Ethan had a big achievement when the Education Ministry released the NGSA results on Friday.

He celebrated his ninth birthday in June. At only nine years old, little Ethan obtained a place at Queen’s College after earning an impressive 482.69 marks. Out of a maximum possible score of 484.52, little Ethan attained 99.62 per cent, placing him among Guyana’s highest-performing pupils. His score also placed him alongside the final nine students on this year’s top one per cent list, which featured just 159 pupils nationwide and included a whopping 20 pupils who achieved perfect scores.

Genesis Headteacher Dion Penville explained that Ethan’s extraordinary ability was evident from the moment he arrived at the school as a four-year-old. Though Ethan was supposed to enter nursery school at that age, he instead started in Grade Two, given his advanced level at the time.
“The nursery entrance test was a walkover for him,” she shared.

“He was already talking about photosynthesis, other plant processes and other primary school concepts, including saying times tables in the teens. His only difficulty was writing because his motor skills weren’t fully developed. But academically, he was way ahead of his grade level. The first term in Grade Two he scored in his 80s, and he has been promoted to the higher levels every year since then,” the head teacher recalled.

After starting out in an advanced class, Ethan consistently continued to excel throughout the years, topping his class in his end-of-term exams most years. The decision to place young Ethan directly into Grade Two was made jointly by the school and his parents after they recognised that he was already working well beyond the level expected for his age. At the time, his sister, Adina, was also entering Grade Two, so it seemed the perfect fit.

Adina, who also wrote this year’s NGSA, earned 475.38 marks and secured a place at West Demerara Secondary School. She has been his biggest supporter, sharing classrooms, lessons and this year’s NGSA journey with him. Although they will now attend different secondary schools for the first time, she told this publication she will always be proud of him. Adina shared how her brother’s intellectual achievements have been a point of pride for her over the years.

“I would always boast about him. He topped the class in Grade Three, Grade Four, Grade Five and Grade Six. I’m proud and happy that he got a school that he wished for and he worked hard for,” she said. In addition to the school and his sister, Ethan’s achievements are being celebrated by his parents, Amrita and Timothy Henriques. His parents credit Ethan’s advanced learning to his natural grasp for learning as well as his sister’s early encouragement in him.

“He always wanted to do what she was doing… while his sister was doing online classes, she encouraged him to sit with her. She taught him to write and read,” Amrita recalled of Ethan’s learning over the years. Their mother explained that Ethan’s academic development started long before he entered the classroom. “He was saying his ABC backwards by the age of two. By five to seven, he was doing multiplication in his head up to his 20 times table. He was fixated on what was happening… he has always been performing consistently well throughout school,” Amrita noted.

Exceptional

His father recalled that during the COVID-19 pandemic he worked from home while caring for the children. “I was fortunate to be able to stay at home and work from home while taking care of the children. During that period, it was a learning experience. Ethan was eager to learn,” he recalled.

Reflecting on his son’s performance, he said, “The children would have been very studious and paid attention to their work, and they’ve always been A students. Ethan was exceptional. He has good retention, so he does well. He remembers well and is very focused, and they work hard.” Despite Ethan’s exceptional academic ability, his parents insist he enjoys a normal childhood.

His father explained, “For some of us academics comes easily. I think he’s one of those fortunate individuals. His normal childhood activities aren’t impaired in any significant way because of that.” As a matter of fact, his mother, Amrita, explained that Ethan himself is particularly inclined to pick going out and doing his extracurricular activities over staying in and doing schoolwork.

“He says school is enough from nine in the morning to three. That’s it. He doesn’t want to do extra classes… he will come, get the homework over in five minutes. He does football; he does farming; he plays cricket. We have a farm in the back, so they would go out and plant, so apart from academics, he has all of that,” she explained.
Secondary school at young age.

Although thrilled by his success, the family admits they do have concerns about him entering secondary school at such a young age. “Our main concern is that he is so young and his sister isn’t there. They’ve always been in the same class together, going to school and coming home together. They’re like twins, just two years apart. So, it’s a little bit concerning… but he seemed to think that he could manage it on his own,” Amrita said. The parents were also full of praise for GECEC, saying the school’s encouragement helped Ethan thrive without unnecessary pressure.

The headteacher believes Ethan’s success reflects more than academic brilliance.

“He loves to participate in extracurricular activities. He is also very polite, and he helps his classmates when they are struggling to understand concepts,” she said.

“I am extremely proud of the achievement. Keep aiming high and let no one look down on you because of your age, but be an example in word, conduct, faith, spirit, purity and love,” was her message to him. Looking back on his years at the school, she said, “His time at Genesis was well spent. He was well known due to his achievements, so everyone admired him. He made the best of it.”

Basking in excitement

For Ethan, he is still basking in the excitement of receiving his results. “We just opened a computer, and when I saw ‘Queens’, I was just staring at the screen, trying to see if it read something else. My little brother was screaming; my mom was screaming. Then my dad came home and he was proud,” Ethan shared in an interview with Guyana Times. While many children dream of attending Queen’s College, Ethan believes dreams alone are not enough. “I just did my best. All the children would want to get QC, but no wishes could get to QC. It’s the effort and the discipline to do your best. That’s what earns you the high score,” he imparts.

With his natural inclination for learning, it comes as no surprise that his favourite subject is Mathematics. For him, he loves the challenge that it brings. “Sometimes it’s just complicated, and it pushes my brain to higher heights. And even though every time I do maths, I finish it really fast. So, no maths is too hard for me except those complex equations I haven’t learnt yet,” he said confidently.

Ethan says he enjoys “two things, play and make mischief with my brother”. He also likes playing football and chess. Asked how it felt to be one of the youngest pupils ever to sit the NGSA, he pondered if he might perhaps be the youngest sitting pupil yet and joked that perhaps there needs to be a global record of it.

“I felt very happy, and I also felt like the people from the Guinness World Records should just come fly to Guyana and give me a couple certificates,” he joked.

Looking ahead to life at Queen’s College, Ethan said, “I look forward to having academic success, making new friends.”

For Ethan’s parents, however, advice to parents of gifted children is to allow them to shine. “Allow them to shine. Encourage them. No pressure. There’s no pressure. Let them have that balanced life. You must have them enjoy playing outdoors… and just be children. There’s no doubt that, yes, you must have to encourage them and you must have time to help them to grow and spend that time, but no pressure to say, ‘Oh, you have to do this and you have to get this by this age.’ Everybody shines differently. Everybody has their own season. Everybody has a time when it’s theirs. Encourage them and allow them to just work at their own pace,” Amrita said.