No electricity and COVID drive young Pranish to claim Dilkusha’s top prize
It is a story of pain and patience, a story of struggle to reach school. For Pranish Lal, the 2022 dux of Dilkusha Methodist High School, these were the words he would utter constantly.
In his Year 13 annual examination, Pranish stamped his name as the highest scorer for all subjects.
He bagged 369 marks out of 400. He earned 97 in mathematics, 98 in technical drawing, 95 in applied technology, physics 73, and English 79.
For someone who grew up with no electricity and had to walk kilometres to catch the bus, the feat wasn’t bad at all.
“Since Year One, we didn’t have electricity,” he said.
“When we had any homework, we should complete it before it gets dark. It’s been like that from Year One to Year 10.
“But nothing stopped me from getting what I worked hard for. I came first in many classes, from Year Five, six, seven, and eight. I was also the Dux for Dilkusha Boys Primary School.”
He is also the head boy.
Pranish topped Year Nine right to Year 13 and was the highest achiever for Fiji Year 12 Certificate Examination for the school in 2021.
“All struggles were the biggest motivator for me, it enabled me to work hard. The breadwinner in our family is my father. He is selfemployed. Sometimes he has jobs, sometimes he doesn’t.
“That motivated me to work hard, so that I can eventually get a better job.”
He said some of the challenges he faced was during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There were many hindrances during study, such as online classes. Most of the time we could not afford data and be part of the classes, so it was just like that, we had to go with the flow,” he said.
“I did anything that was possible to gain knowledge.”
He hopes to secure a scholarship to pursue studies in civil engineering at the University of the South Pacific (USP).