10-year-old whiz kid cops two CSEC subjects
Published:Wednesday | September 10, 2025 | 12:06 AMKeisha Hill/Senior Gleaner Writer
TEN-YEAR-OLD Matthew Anderson is perhaps the youngest person in the Caribbean to pass subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, an internationally recognised secondary school qualification in the Caribbean region administered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).
Anderson, a year five student from Edna Moyle Primary School in the Cayman Islands, earned a grade one in mathematics and a grade two in human and social biology.
His parents, Patrick and Nadine Thomas, are Jamaicans, both from Manchester. They migrated to the Cayman Islands in 2015. Patrick a musician and air conditioning technician, and Nadine a theatre arts teacher, were not surprised by the achievement of their son, who they said has been displaying signs of being more advanced than his peers since birth.
Nadine said while she was pregnant with Matthew, she remained very active, especially in her role as a performing arts teacher. While Patrick who plays the drums, and other musical instruments exposed his son to music prior to, and after his birth.
LEARNING EARLY
“He was a very active baby ... he walked at nine months. Whatever songs were played he would fully hum to it at seven months. He did not like cartoons, and by the time he was three years old, he was watching educational programmes. If he was not learning from the programme, he would not gravitate towards it,” Nadine said.
Patrick knew his son was special, when even at three years old, he became tired of the regular English alphabet, and began learning the Russian alphabet. “He was writing at three years old. We read to him a lot, and we realised that he was writing, and we didn’t have to teach him. On his tablet, he would go to YouTube sites, just to explore,” Patrick said.
By the time Matthew started formal schooling at grade one, he was writing full sentences, and was fully immersed in his educational experience. “By grade three, he began studying the heart and could explain an ECG test by reading the waves. Then he wanted to be a cardiologist, but after learning all he could, he changed to studying airplanes. He is bored easily, so once he masters a subject area, he changes to something else,” Nadine said.
EXCELLED IN ALL AREAS
His parents said he has a natural interest and ability in mathematics. He does so well at the subject that they enrolled him in a private class to challenge him. What they did not expect was that he was more advanced than even the persons who were preparing for external examinations. His parents decided with encouragement from his tutors that he would sit mathematics at the CSEC level.
In addition, Matthew showed an interest in human and social biology, and they decided that they would allow him to participate in this subject area as well. He received private mathematics tutoring from Lamar Dennis and Kirkpatrick Clarke, as well as online lessons in human and social biology from Celisa Gregory-Pool. He excelled in all areas.
“I go by the Bible verse ‘Trust in the Lord, with all your heart’. I also want to learn. There is too much knowledge that is there for me not to want to know. My mind can be overactive at times, but more often than not, if I see something I am interested in and I want to know more about it, I go ahead,” Matthew said.
At this stage, he is interested in engineering, but also has an interest in becoming an actuary. “I had more preparation time for mathematics, and it was easier. I also used varying methods to study mathematics. Human and social biology was harder, because after a while it started to become mundane and boring,” he said.
Matthew plans to sit more exams next year, passing as many subjects as he can with the highest possible grades. He could very well be on the verge again of creating history next year, as he is likely to sit physics. “It is difficult to keep him in the classroom at the level of the other students. We have to keep him busy. We also encourage him to go through the paces, while he continues to advance at his level,” Nadine said.
Matthew is the oldest of three siblings and an active member of the Cayman Islands Baptist Church. He has served as a student council representative at his school for the past four years and participates in a wide range of extracurricular activities. These include football, chess, spelling competitions, where he recently placed second in the 2025 Spelling Bee and the Cayman Arts Programme.
He plays the violin, piano, and clarinet, and is the youngest performer in both the Cayman Islands Orchestra and Camerata Orchestra.
In his spare time, Matthew enjoys puzzle-solving, ludo, skating, drawing, reading scientific material, and exploring complex math problems. Despite a dislike for flying, he has a passion for travel and discovery. He aspires to become an actuary or engineer, careers that reflect his love of math and problem-solving.