by Mir Suneem
Srinagar
As soon as the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (BOSE) declared annual Class 12th results on Monday, everyone wanted to know who has topped the examination held in October last year. Interestingly, all the first positions in four different streams were taken by girls studying in government-run schools.
Around 48 students from government schools have figured in the list of first 10 positions shared by 92 students in the science, arts, commerce, and home science streams.
In the science field, Wafeeqa Qazi, daughter of Qazi Gulzar Ahmad from Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Amira Kadal, topped and secured the first position with 493 marks out of 500. A resident of Peerbagh, Srinagar, Wafeeqa’s father is an engineer and mother an instructor at ITI.
“I was pleasantly surprised with my result,” said Qazi. “I thank my parents, teachers at Aakash Coaching Institute for my success. My teachers have been very helpful and guided me throughout during exams. I am forever grateful to them.”
Wafeeqa’s elder sister is studying computer sciences and her brother management in Malaysia, but she has always been interested in the field of medical sciences and wishes to be a doctor. She believes it’s her hard work, her attitude of being consistent, focused and good conduct of life that has led her to this great success. “I would make a time table for my studies and stick to it. I am lucky that I never got pressurized by my parents at any time to spend 24/7 on studies,” she added.
Wafeeqa said that internet ban is frustrating for students. In this era, students completely rely on the internet for their studies and it is their right to have an internet facility available all the time.
Another girl, Hadia Noor from Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Kothibagh secured the first position in arts stream with 493 marks. She hails from Srinagar’s Sheeshbag area.
Hadia says it is the hard work that pays off. “After Allah, if I have to give the credit for my success to someone, it is my hard work and the constant support of my parents who made me believe in myself,” she said.
Hadia belongs to a business family. Her father is managing the ancestral business of Kashmiri arts and crafts and her mother a homemaker. Her brother is studying engineering in Chennai but she wishes to make her career in law or economics in the future.
Hadia has been regular in school and would attend all the classes with full concentration to get the most of it.
“I was definitely expecting good marks for the amount of hard work I had put in during my exams. But getting the first position was quite surprising. I never felt the need to go for private tuitions as our teachers teach us with dedication,” she said.
The only girl that has secured the first position from a privately run school is Zakia Binti Zia, daughter of Zia-ud-Din Baba from Green Valley Higher Secondary School, who topped the commerce stream with 489 marks. She belongs to Tulmula area of Ganderbal district.
Zakia’s father is a government officer in the Department of Finance and mother a Chemistry Lecturer. Her elder sister is doing MBBS from Bangladesh and her younger brother is still in school.
Zakia feels that her success is a collective effort of her parents and her school. “It is my school that has shaped me into what I am today and my teachers who always appreciated. My parents wanted me to study medicine, and it was very difficult to convince them to let me study commerce. I was always interested in business management and wanted to make a career in it. I am fortunate that my parents understood and let me choose my career,” Zakia said. “Getting a position is a matter of luck because there is only a difference of one or two marks.”
Zaika said she has never studied with the aim of getting a position however she would spend a few hours to study.
Due to the situation in Kashmir, the schools often remain closed but Zakia didn’t let that affect her studies. “I discovered a channel on YouTube that give lectures on accountancy and other related subjects. It was of great help,” she said.
In the Home Science stream, it is Fariah Farooq Shah daughter of Mohammad Farooq Shah, again from Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Kothibagh, who secured the first position with 456 marks. A resident of Rawalpora area in Srinagar, her father is a contractor and mother a housewife.
“I am youngest among three sisters. Our father has worked hard to the best of his capacities to educate all of us. One of my sisters recently completed her MCA and the other one has also completed her master’s degree in arts before she got married,” said Fariah.
After scoring good marks in her Class 10th exams, Fariah’s decision of studying Home Science was questioned by almost everyone, but her family stood by her decision.
“The credit goes to my family especially my brother-in-law who is an advocate. He stood by me and supported me when I decided to go against the norms to choose this field,” Fariah said.
She is also thankful to the teachers in her school who guided her all the time. “I wanted to prove that science is not the only field one can choose if he or she is good at studies. One can excel in other fields as well, like I did, and make parents proud.”
This year according to the official figures, 54 percent girl students qualified the examination, as against 50 percent boys.
