Teenagers Ishani Kumari and Saloni Kumari are among this year's standout performers of Intermediate (science), not so much for their actual results as for their struggle and rise to the top.
Principal secretary, education, D.S. Gangwar and Bihar School Examination Board chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh released the Class XII science results on Tuesday. Lok Chandra, Anshuman Maskara and Saurav Shresth were among the best-performing students but Ishani and Saloni stood out from the rest because of their perseverance and dedication.
Ishani (17) from Boring Road has scored 64 per cent marks but she is on cloud nine. Her struggle and her mother's have won against the hurdles to education, after all.
Her mother Mamta Singh has had to raise her as a single parent for the past 14 years with a job as a data entry operator.
"When I was three years old, my parents divorced. My mother was no longer comfortable with my father who was an alcoholic," said 16-year-old Ishani. "After their separation, my mother moved back to my maternal grandfather's house in Kurji with me. But as that family expanded with my uncle's marriage, my mother started looking for jobs to meet our financial expenses."
"She got a job as a data entry operator in a private firm. She is now paid Rs 8,000 a month," she said, adding that her meagre salary restricted Mamta from letting her daughter pursue her dreams of becoming a doctor.
Ishani could not appear for the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) held on May 1. Her mother unfortunately had to express her helplessness in meeting the financial expenses required for a medical education. Then came the silver lining in the young girl's life.
"I could not appear for AIPMT in May but I am planning to take the second examination scheduled on July 24. My teacher Bimal Kumar Arya told me about the introduction of the National Eligibility Entrance Test under which there are several government medical colleges. Fees at government medical colleges are not too much and I have heard about education loans too."
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the CBSE-conducted common national test would be the only valid entrance exam for undergraduate medical courses across the country. Those who did not enlist for the May 1 AIPMT, or NEET-1 as it is being considered now, can appear for the July 24 NEET-2.
Saloni (16) who has been living in Kurji after her matriculation exams and wants to become an engineer has a similar tale of struggle.
Her father, Braj Kishore Yadav, is a goods carrier driver in Bihta. Saloni, who secured 65 per cent in the Intermediate exam, said: "As my father's monthly income is around Rs 7,000, he expressed inability to meet my education expenses after matriculation."
After completing Class X from a government school in Makhdumpur (Gaya), she moved to her grandmother's house in Kurji.
Not wishing to burden her father with her education expenses, Saloni started to meet her own needs providing tuitions to students. "With Rs 2,000 that I earned, I met my education expenses, including buying books," said Saloni who studied Intermediate at Mahant Hanumant Sharan College in Kurji.
As Gangwar and the Bihar school board chief Singh released the Intermediate (science) results, the pass percentage was found lower than last year. This year, 67.06 per cent students have cleared the exams against 89.32 per cent last year.
