MOH Farook felicitates Kumar Saurav, a student of Netarhat Vidyalaya, in Ranchi on Sunday. (Hardeep Singh)

Ranchi, Nov. 14: Pratibha Kumari couldn’t help shed tears of joys, as she watched her son Ankit receive a gold medal from Governor M.O.H. Farook today at a felicitation organised by Jharkhand Academic Council (JAC) for state toppers of matriculation, intermediate, madarsah and Sanskrit boards.

Ankit Aman, a student of Netarhat Residential School, topped the secondary (matriculation) examination in 2010.

More than 100 guardians were present to cheer 104 toppers from the 2009 and 2010 batches. Apart from gold, silver and bronze medals, certificates and cash prizes were also handed to the students, including 33 SC/STs and six visually-challenged.

“Studies were never given much importance in our family. But today, our hard work has paid off. My son’s achievement is not only an encouragement for him but also for us to back him to pursue higher studies,” said the proud mother.

“I want to become an IAS officer and I’ll try hard to make sure I fulfil my dreams,” added Ankit.

Presiding over the event, Farook said these children were the torchbearers for the state’s future and hence, the government should not leave any stone unturned to provide quality education to them.

“It may sound clichéd but it’s a reality that no society can progress without a proper education structure. The students gathered here have proved that provided the right environment and means to study, they can scale any heights,” he added.

He also lauded the council for its efforts in the last one year. “JAC has been doing a tremendous job to improve the overall education system in the state. For example, it has tried to simplify the registration process to encourage better colleges to come up. It has also improved the scrutiny of answer sheets.”

State human resource development minister Baidyanath Ram, the special guest, said his department would try to ensure no child in Jharkhand remained illiterate.

“There is a need to create a proper environment for education and that is what we are focusing on. We have already turned Netarhat Residential School into an autonomous body to improve its functioning. We have also extended and simplified this year’s registration process for matriculation and intermediate exams so that more students take the exams,” he said.

Ursuline Convent Girls High School and Barhi Intermediate College, Barhi (Hazaribagh) were given a cash prize of 25,000 each and rewarded for overall performance and best teaching practices.