Nigerian emerges world brightest student

A secondary school student of Greensprings School in Lagos, Fareedah Oyolola has been honoured by The Johns Hopkins Centre for Talented Youth as one of the brightest students in the world.

She got this after her exceptional performance in the advanced School and College Ability Test (SCAT) before being admitted into the talent search programme.

The Centre is an initiative of Johns Hopkins University nurturing extraordinary young minds. Its 2020 – 2021 programme draws nearly 19,000 students from 84 countries. Oyolola and other honourees from other countries are expected to attend a summer programme in the United States or Hong Kong.

In a statement by the Centre, the Executive Director, Virginia Roach congratulated Oyolola and other outstanding students across the world.

“We are thrilled to celebrate these students. In a year that was anything but ordinary, their love for learning shined through, and we are excited to help cultivate their growth as scholars and citizens throughout high school, college, and beyond.”

Sharing her experience, Oyolola said the test was a multiple-choice aptitude test in verbal and quantitative reasoning, adding that she had to answer 100 questions within 44 minutes.

“At the end of the test, my score was in the 92nd percentile for verbal reasoning and 87th percentile for quantitative reasoning.

“I wouldn’t have got these high scores within such a limited time, if not for the great work put in by my teachers”

Her school principal, Mrs Magdalene Okrikri commended Fareedah saying the school has a programme, ‘Thinking School’ which helps students develop mentally and strengthen their cognitive abilities.