Thu | Mar 28, 2024

Jamaican student places first in CSEC maths

Published:Monday | November 4, 2019 | 12:00 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
Kyle Pratt

WESTERN BUREAU:

Sixteen-year-old Campion College whiz-kid Kyle Pratt has aced the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) mathematics exam, scoring the highest grade in the region.

Kyle, who was in fourth form at the age of 15 when he sat the exam this year, was last week announced as the region’s best by the Caribbean Examinations Council.

Four other Campion students were among the top 10 candidates in the Caribbean, with Trinidad and Tobago being their closest competitors.

Kyle, with a straight-A profile, shared the spotlight with schoolmates Chaneil Miller, Alexis Onyonyor, Vivek Attupuram, and Steven Henry.

“I realised I liked maths in grade one at Holy Childhood when I was just seven years old,” he told The Gleaner. “I have always had an appreciation for maths and it became even more pronounced when I transferred from Holy Childhood to St Andrew Preparatory,” he said.

As a grade-four student, Kyle beat his grade-seven schoolmates in a maths competition to lift the championship title and, years later, continued his exploits at Campion, winning the University of the West Indies-sponsored Math Olympiad when he was a first-former.

The following year, Kyle repeated the feat, and in June this year, represented Jamaica in the Central American Math Olympiad, where he got an honourable mention.

A special child

For proud mom Christine Pratt, an English teacher at Holy Childhood High, her son has always been special.

“He has a natural knack ... . He sees math as everything around him. I realised early that he had a special gift,” she said of her son, also the child of mathematician Henry Pratt.

Besides academics, Kyle is a shining star in chess and karate, representing Jamaica at the Carifta Games.

“His room is a collection of medals and trophies. He is very considerate and sees family first. He will go out of his way to take care of his friends,” his mother said.

It’s that care which has led Kyle to organise maths classes for his friends since first form.

“During CSEC, sixth-formers were at my house for Kyle’s class. He does it out of love. He is a very generous child,” said Mrs Pratt.

At least twice per year, Kyle goes through the maths syllabus with his friends, helping them to prepare for exams.

The young scholar envisions a future in medical engineering.

“My primary goal is to stabilise myself, make some money, so I can be in a position to help my country,” said Pratt, described by his principal Grace Baston as a “clearly brilliant, athletic, compassionate and a gentleman”.