By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net,
Kharupetia (Darrang): A sleepy hamlet, No 2 Dhansiri Kash, some 17 kilometres away from the National Highway 52 which is 100 odd kilometre from the state capital Guwahati in Assam. Most of the people of village are either farmers or the daily wage earners with a very minimal earning but they are determined to bring a change.
The villagers, however, have realized the importance of educating their girl child and ensured that every girl in the village goes to school. A visit to Shyamtila Middle English Madrassa would be enough to understand fact as more than 70 per cent out of 200 students of the school are girls.
The village which comes under greater Shyamtilla area has 1200 voters. “The villagers have become more conscious and aware of the importance of education of the girl child than ever,” Zamat Ali, the head master of the school told TCN.
The school which was established in 1989 is a major role in providing basic education, in spite of not getting major help from the government, to the locality spreading an area nearly 4 square kilometre.
“We too try our best to provide the necessary lessons to the students with our limited resources. Almost all the students belong to the poor families and their parents have bestowed the responsibility on us,” Ali said whose main earning source is cultivation.
But Ali and his seven member-staff are happy doing their job and bringing smile to many. “We feel proud whenever we see our students doing better jobs than us,” the head master said, who has been involved with the school for two decades.
“I feel we could have done better if we could have devoted more time in the school. We also have to think for our earnings to run our families as we don’t get money from the school,” Ainul Hoque, a science teacher of the school.
The village with a majority of people belonging to the Muslim community is also taking serious steps towards the population measures. Several bodies including All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU) are organizing several awareness programmes in this regard.
“It’s really encouraging that the villagers have expressed their willingness to learn about the population control measures. I think by sending the girls to the school is one of the best ways to control the population in a natural way,” said Dr Illias Ali, Professor of Surgery and Head of the Department of Emergency department in Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, who recently visited the place to take part in such an awareness programme.