The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth has honoured Fareedah Oyolola, a secondary school student at Greensprings School, Lagos, as one of the brightest students in the world.

This recognition is a result of her exceptional performance in the advanced School and College Ability Test (SCAT), which every student must undergo in order for the institution to determine their current academic abilities before admitting them into its talent search programme.

Sharing her experience about the test, Fareedah said: “The test was a multiple-choice aptitude test in verbal and quantitative reasoning, and I 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.

There’s no way I would have gotten these high scores with such a limited time window if not for the great work put in by my teachers, towards developing my comprehension abilities and mathematical reasoning skills. I am very grateful to them.”

In a statement issued by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, the Executive Director; Virginia Roach, congratulated Fareedah and other outstanding students across the world. She said, “We are thrilled to celebrate these students. In a year that was anything but ordinary, their love of learning shined through, and we are excited to help cultivate their growth as scholars and citizens throughout high school, college, and beyond.”

Mrs Magdalene Okrikri, the secondary school principal at Greensprings Anthony campus, also expressed her satisfaction with Fareedah’s honour. She said, “This honour brings great joy to my heart. Fareedah’s achievement is a testament that our Thinking School programme is rewarding to our students, helping them to develop mentally and strengthening their cognitive abilities.”

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