Priyanka Shah, daughter of Prabhu Nath, a mason who hails from Bihar, has topped among girls in the Class 10 examination of the Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Board. Priyanka got 91.5 per cent marks.
While Priyanka is in Bihar spending her vacation with her cousins, her father, who works in Lucknow, went to her school to collect the marksheet. Priyanka, who got 99 per cent marks in mathematics, plans to study further to take the civil services examination and become an IAS officer.
“This marksheet is my real earning. We have lived through crises and invested whatever I earned on the education of my kids. Priyanka used to top all her classes from the very beginning and I invested in her education like I did for my two boys,†said Prabhu Nath, who came from Sisawan village of Siwan district in Bihar to Lucknow in 1994.
However, Priyanka’s fees of the past few months are still to be paid. In view of her good academic record, her father was allowed to deposit her fees after three to four months. Since she is the first student of the school to top the board examination, the school has decided to provide her free education from next semester and also give her a laptop.
“She has not only done her parents proud but also our school. In order to encourage students, we had promised them that whoever scores beyond 90 per cent would be given a laptop. She is the only one,†said Ajay Pal Kanaujia, principal of Lucknow Model Public School in Indiranagar.
Meanwhile, Akash Yadav, who topped the board with 92.33 per cent, is son of a clerk at District Magistrate office, Faizabad.
Akash received divisional scholarship of Rs 500 per month from the state government, his father Ram Kumar Yadav said. Akash, who wants to be an IITian, said he would also go for Civil Services exams. Akash said he never cared for memorising long answers but focused on making the fundamentals clear.
“A backward class student from a middle class family is in no way inferior as the merit list has proved that financial constraints and social status cannot curtail talent,†said Tej Narayan Pandey, senior Samajwadi Party leader, who announced a cash award of Rs 21000 for Akash. He also said he would arrange finance for Akash’s higher studies.
Akash secured 98 marks in Maths, 83 in Science, 95 in English, 96 in Drawing and 89 in Social Studies.
About 32 lakh students appeared for the exam this year.