PRINCE, THE KING AMONG DELHI GOVT SCHOOL STUDENTS
Prince Kumar and his family live in a small room with household scattered items all over. It has a broken air cooler, piles of CBSE books and a small kitchen.
Prince, who scored 97 per cent in the Science stream, is the topper among Delhi government school students and is the son of Manoj Kumar, a DTC bus driver.
Without any tuition, Prince fought poverty, staying in one room with three family members, but never lost the hope of studying hard.
“He was always a good student. But we never expected that he will top the exam. I am very proud of him and will always be,” said Manoj Kumar, the father.
Life was not very simple for Manoj Kumar when he came to Delhi and became a bus driver.
“I learned that education is very important for this generation. If you do not have an education, people will keep you under their feet. I have always encouraged my daughter and son. My daughter, who is elder to her brother, is doing Bcom,” said the proud father.
Prince scored 100 out of 100 in Mathematics, 99 out of 100 in Economics, and 98 out of 100 in Chemistry.
He is the overall topper in Delhi government schools, with 485 marks out of 500.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia congratulated the boy and said it was a “very proud moment” for him.
“I always gave preference to study and my father taught this. But in a family like ours, it’s not always easy to study. But my friends, family and teachers always helped me and encouraged me,” said Prince.
Talking to Millennium Post, Prince said, “The first time, when my teachers called my parents and said that they want to send me to Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya in Dwarka’s Sector 10, that was my biggest achievement. After that, I have never expected more.”
The young man now hopes to pursue an electronics and communications engineering degree and has cleared his JEE (Mains).
Celebrations at the family’s house will not stop any soon. Neighbours, who have seen Prince since his birth, revealed that he has always a been a helpful boy with always a smiling face.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has given a lot of attention to education and health since coming to power.
Almost a quarter of state government’s Budget is allocated to the education sector.
Last year, the government allocated around 24 per cent of its budget to education, and it seems, the efforts are paying off.
As the results of CBSE examination were declared on Saturday, the pass percentage of Delhi government schools saw a remarkable increase this year — rising to 90.68 per cent from 88.27 per cent last year. In private schools, the percentage increased by 4.15 to 88.35.