Fighting all odds, they make their way to the top
CHANDIGARH: Bhagwan Singh, a daily wage labourer, was a happy man on Monday as his daughter Manpreet Kaur bagged 10th rank in the state and topped Sangrur district in the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) Class-10 examination.
Manpreet, a student of Government Senior Secondary School, Punnawal, scored 97.3% marks. She belongs to a Dalit family. Her father is a Class 9-passout while her mother never went to school.
“Though my parents are not in a position to support my education, they still want me to pursue my studies. I had also scored well in the Class-8 examination. At times, my father does not get work all 30 days of the month. We four siblings are dependent on him,” she said.
“I had applied for scholarship but did not get it due to a clerical error. I want to continue my studies and hope to become an IAS officer one day,” she said.
FOOTBALL-MAKER’S DAUGHTER TOPS JALANDHAR
Jalandhar’s Jyoti Mahey, daughter of Kewal Chand, who works in a football-making firm, has topped the district with 97.23% in state board exam, bagging 11th position in the state.
Jyoti is a student of New St Soldier Public School. She lives with her father, mother and a five-year-old sister in a oneroom house.
“I wanted to be a state topper. But I am still happy that I scored the highest marks in the district. I will work hard next time,” said Mahey who wants to become an IAS officer.
“Even though we cannot afford to teach her but we knew that she is capable of achieving much. We are thankful to the school authorities for financing
her studies,” said her father Kewal Chand.
Vaishali, a student of New St Soldier Public School, got third position at the district with 96.46% marks. Sshe has bagged 16th rank at the state. Daughter of a labourer, she wants to become an income tax officer.
DAUGHTERS OF PRIEST, LABOURER SHINE
Phagwara’s Agrita Sharma, who stood first in the district, bagged 12th rank in the state scoring
97.08% marks. Of the four students from the district who are in the state merit list, three are girls. Agrita grew up in a small two-room house.
Her father Sushil Mani is a priest at a local temple and earns about ₹7,000 a month. Mani said keeping in mind their poor financial condition, the management of Shri Mahavir Jain Model Senior Secondary School, where she studies, offered her fee concession.
“My father was happy when
he got the news that I have topped the district. I want to make my father proud of me. I want to become Ian IAS officer and will pursue non-medical,” Agrita said.
Harpreet Kaur got the second position in the district and secured 19th rank in the state. She is a student of SD Putri Pathshala Girls Senior Secondary School, Hadiabad. Her father Surinder Singh runs a small woodcutting factory and she has three younger sisters.
Though my parents are not in a position to support my education, they want me to pursue studies. We four siblings are dependent on him. MANPREET KAUR, daughter of a daily wager