Panchkula: Majority minority communities in northern states are underprivileged with no employment and education to minorities in these states.
One such case is from Haryana where Government school in Rehna was upgraded to Class 12 only in 2014-15. Until then the Government school had classes up to 8th standard.
Musra Khatun, a young 15-year-old girl recently passed her Class 10th Haryana board exams this year. Until last week she was a normal girl who used to stitch her own clothes but now turned into an inspiration for other girls from her village, reported Indian Express.
Hailing from a Muslim majority village in Raipur Rani block of Panchkula district, her school, unlike other institutes, does not have sufficient staff to teach the school students.
The Government Senior Secondary School in Rehna, was running upto class 8th. Her school only got an upgradation to Class 12 in 2014-15.
Out of overall 35 students of the school’s first batch to appear for Class 10 in March 2016, only five students could pass the Board Exams.
In the year 2016-17, a total of 41 students appeared for Class 10 but none could pass their Boards.
While a total 63 students appeared for Boards this year, only Musra could clear exams. Out of 63 students, 23 girls were appeared fresh this year while remaining 41 failed students appearing for the second time could not clear the Exam.
The Rehna Government school has around 150 students from Classes 9 to 12 with only five teachers. Though six other posts are sanctioned the posts remain vacant.
For all the senior science classes there is only one teacher Satish Kumar who manages to take Chemistry, Physics and Biology classes for Classes 9 to 12.
Speaking of which Kumar says “As there was no Maths teacher for some time, I had to teach Maths. I taught English too. Musra is diligent. She came to me to clear all her doubts, irrespective of the subject I taught. I did the best I could.”
While the school teachers debate on student’s basic. “Students’ basics are not clear. How will they write the board exams?,” asks one teacher.
The school’s principal Tejinder, however, claims the “conservative” mentality of the families is the reason for lacking behind.
“These kids are sent to madrasas by parents for religious education. We need to pull them out from there so that they attend our classes,” says the Principal.
Whereas the village’s sarpanch Alam Gir says the students opt for Madrasas only because they fail in the regular school. “When students don’t get proper education, where will they go? They will go to these madrasas so that at least they become eligible to become maulvis.”
Since Musra is the only girl to pass her Boards, her village people think otherwise. Speaking of her daughter’s success, Musra’s father Iqbal said: “I feel like crying listening to people’s comments. Sometimes they say what’s the big deal if she has passed. At other times, they say I must have put in a word with someone at the board. A labourer like me who earns Rs 300 a day, what kind of influence does he have?”
Taking pride in her daughter’s success who scored a 69 percent in her Board exam, Iqbal says: “In a school where not even a child would clear exams, Musra has passed with such good marks.”
Residing in one room with no fridge, TV, cooler or even a smartphone, Musra’s father recalls his dreams to join the Indian army but couldn’t as his parents wanted him to work. A farmer since then he continue to work on his family field to earn Rs 6,000 to 7,000 per month.
“What I couldn’t achieve because of lack of proper education, I don’t want Musra to face. I keep telling her mother not to give her chores and to let her concentrate on studies. When you are battling so many social issues, it is difficult to give your daughter an education. So I request the government to help us by providing good teachers,” said Iqbal.
Musra’s only request to the Government is “I want to become a doctor. I wish I could convey to the government to provide us adequate facilities at school, otherwise, my dreams too will shatter.”