[No] recognition: ‘What about my talented son?’

Mother says her son’s achievements have been ignored.

LAHORE:

“I will buy a medal. I just want the Lahore DCO to present it to my son” says Nasreen Ashiq.

She is the mother of Mehroz Yawar, who she claims is the youngest Microsoft certified Pakistani.

Nasreen is a senior nurse at Kareem Park Diagnostic Centre.

She says Yawar passed two certifications; Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) and Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) on April 10 at the age of six years and eight months.

Previously, she says, the record was held by Muhammad Huzair who studied at the same academy as Yawar.

Nasreen is dismayed that her son has not received any recognition from the government.

She and Yawar visited the DCO’s office on Thursday.

Talking to The Express Tribune, she said for several weeks, she had walked her son from her house in Kareem Park to the academy more than three kilometres away every day.

Yawar says he wants to be president of Pakistan when he grows up. He says he hasn’t forgotten singly computer command he was taught.

Nasreen says her son was determined to set a new record and she could not disappoint him.

Nasreen says being a single parent has not been easy. She has had to juggle between her job, her son’s school and his computer academy.

She says when he was four, she decided to stop taking him to the academy so he would focus better at school.

She says when she was withdrawing his admission, his teachers and the owner of the academy argued against her plan.

“They told me Yawar has a lot of potential and it should not be wasted.”

She says when Muhammad Huzair, Yawar’s classmate at the academy, became the youngest Microsoft certified student, her son begged her to let him continue.

She says from the start, he had shown great interest in mobile phones and laptop computers.

She says she remembers Arfa Kareem with pride. “She set the trend in the country.”

She says her child was among the most remarkable young people promoting information technology education in Pakistan.

She says she is only seeking recognition for her son’s efforts. She says she does ask for financial aid, though it would greatly aid her son’s education.

Hafiz Bilal, owner of Cyber Space, the academy where Yawar and Huzair studied, says Yawar is an exceptionally intelligent boy.

He said says Yawar has attended three courses at the academy. He says his enthusiasm was almost contagious. He says he is proud of his student and nothing would make him happier to know that Yawar’s achievements had been officially recognised.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2014.