perfect score! Syed Asma reports on five record breakers in Kashmir who topped the 10th exams.
Securing 100 percent in any board exam seemed impossible and unbelievable; that is, till the recent tenth class results were declared.
Five students from Kashmir have managed to secure 100 percent in their matriculation exams. Amir Mustafa, Hafsa Haroon, Khubaan Jamsheed, Khyrul Nisa and Nissar Ahmed Rather have achieved what once was unachievable. They have created history by not losing even a single mark in their exam papers.
This year a lot of unexpected elements were seen in the merit list. For a long time, the title of topping in the state was usually taken by missionary schools and a few private schools. But today, two government school children have made their place in the first ten positions. Besides, the merit list has students from more than just one district, which is unusual. These include Kupwara, Budgam, Pulwama, Baramulla and Anantnag.
Khyrul Nisa from Beerwah Budgam, has become the first student in her district to be in the merit list of the tenth class. She says Dr. Shah Faisal, an IAS officer from Kupwara, is her inspiration. “I first want to go for MBBS and then qualify IAS. I want to live my father’s dream,” Nisa says. Her father is a dealer with Consumer Affair and Public Distribution Department. She credits her father and her uncle, a KAS officer, for encouraging her all her life especially in academics.
Nisa adds, “When I heard I have secured 500 marks, I thought there is an error as it is not possible to get a 100 percent in languages like Urdu and English, but then it was true.”
She was a student of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya till eighth, and then joined Syed Ali Memorial Institute of Education and Training, Budgam. She is now planning to continue her studies in the same institution. She has been a topper all her life, and says she always dreamt of seeing her name on newspapers as a topper.
Another topper Hafsa Haroon, from Presentation Convent, is inspired by her businessman father. She says she is extremely thankful to her family for being her support. On hearing she hasn’t lost any of the marks in her exams was a bit hard to believe, as it hadn’t ever happened in Kashmir. She says she is happy to be a record holder with the other four now.
Hafsa wants to be a cardiologist in the future and is all set to make her dreams possible.
All the topper girls share the same ambition of becoming a doctor. Khubaan Jamshed from Mallinson “wants to be like Baba (father)”, who is a doctor.
“Knowing that Baba actually takes stones out of kidneys fascinates me. Seeing the respect that his patients give him makes me think of becoming like him. I just want to be like Baba,” says Khubaan.
Khubaan lives in Hyderpora, and both of her parents are doctors. She credits her parents and technology for the position she is in. “Allah’s grace and my parents blessing helped me to reach here,” she says.
“Internet has been of great help to clear a lot of my confusion,” she says.
Naseer Ahmed Rather, from Pehroo Iqbalabad, Anantnag is another student who has secured first position in Kashmir. He was a student of Sidra Institute of Education, Anantnag and had not imagined being a topper. He would study for five to six hours to achieve this and dreams of getting into IIT. He says his inspiration is his brother who is presently studying medicine in Government Medical College, Jammu.
Sharing his dream of joining IIT, Aamir Mustafa from Tyndale Biscoe is also a perfect scorer this year. Aamir, of Barzulla, feels that him securing 100 percent can help a Kashmiri student to secure a good position in the competition outside Valley.
Aamir credits his grandparents for their blessings, especially his grandfather, a retired Chief Engineer, who has been his mathematics teacher. Aamir’s father is a doctor posted in SKIMS and is extremely proud of his son.
Mohammed Ismail Ganie may not be in the first 20 positions, but certainly his achievement has made his mother and sisters proud. He is from Binnar, Baramulla.
He has secured 467 marks, that earns him 93.1 percent and he is proud to share, “no one in my family, relations or even the whole village have got such high marks ever.” He has been living far from his village and family for a long time in Baitul hilal, J&K Yateem Foundation Srinagar and has been studying in Oasis Public School.
Nine years ago, Ismail’s father, who was a laborer, had passed away after a brief illness. He was the sole earning hand of the family and since then the sales of fruits from their few kanals of fruit orchards are sustaining them. Ismail aspires to become a doctor and make his parents proud. For now, he has joined Government Boys High School in the nearby area and plans to continue his studies there.
This year about 50685 students, including 27475 boys and 23210 girls, appeared in the examination. Out of them 29280 students (19064 boys and 14418 girls), 66 percent of the total number have qualified.
