By Imran Inamdar, TwoCircles.net
Nearly two years ago, TwoCircles.net had highlighted the dismal state of Urdu-medium schools in Maharashtra. It is an issue which we had discussed six years ago too. One can say that little has changed since but the marks scored by two girls in Class 10 from these institutes show that there has never been a dearth of potential in these schools.
Zoha Afreen Khan, a student of Rahmaniya Urdu High School, Achalpur from Amravati district has scored 99.8% marks and topped the Amravati division while Sahrish Riba, a student of Anjuman Urdu High School Khamgao from Buldhana district managed to score 99%. What is even more encouraging is that both these girls want to become doctors and help the most marginalised communities of the country.
Fifteen-year-old Zoha, who is fluent in English, Urdu, Hindi and Marathi, is the eldest daughter of her parents. Her father is an Urdu teacher and her mother is a housewife.
Speaking with Twocircles.net, Zoha credited her success to her parents and teachers. She said that proper guidance of teachers and the love and care of her parents gave energy to students. It helped her a lot in achieving such a feat. Informing about her future plans, she said, “I want to be a doctor and work in rural areas so that I can help people in need. I always read in newspapers that Adivasis never receive timely medical assistance. It makes me disheartened to read such news and so after becoming a doctor, my main focus will be to work for and in Adivasi communities.”
Shariful Hasan, the father of Zoha, said his daughter’s performance has always been excellent. “Studying 6-8 hours daily has been her routine from the beginning. Whenever she lost a single mark during her home exams, she took it seriously and worked hard on it.” Commenting on her future plans, Hasan said, “My daughter’s career is my top priority. I will do my best to make her dreams a reality.”
Badruddin Merchant, Chairman, Rahmaniya School, lauded Zoha for achieving this feat. “She is a very talented and an extremely hard-working student. I thank Allah, her parents and teachers for guiding her.” Merchant further claimed that Zoha is the first Urdu medium student from the state to score such high marks.
Sahrish Riba, who scored 99% in her exams, thanked Allah for awarding such an honour. “My parents helped me a lot by motivating me. I studied for nearly eight hours every day throughout the year. Memorising my lessons and clearing all potential doubts was my daily routine. I had completed my syllabus by January and revised all my subjects several times before board examinations.”
Sahrish whose father Muzammil Sayed is a teacher at an Urdu High School wants to become a gynaecologist to provide medical assistance to marginalised women of the society. “The marginalised communities, especially women, suffer the most during medical emergencies and they are often unable to get any timely treatment. I want to work towards addressing this issue,” she said.