SSC, HSSC exams: Position-holders get awards, medals

RAWALPINDI:

Muhammad Nashit Khursheed depicts another story of hard work and endless struggle, standing in a queue to receive his prize.

A student of Punjab College of Information Technology, Satellite Town Rawalpindi, Nashit was among others who received his prize on Friday for securing first position in the Higher Secondary School Certificate Annual Examination (HSSC) 2014 of Rawalpindi Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (RBISE).

Securing 1,024 marks out of 1,100 in the pre-medical group wasn’t a piece of cake for the intermediate student. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Nashit attributes his success to his dedication.

“There is no shortcut to success, only hard work and sincere efforts can ensure success,” he said, adding that he had left no stone unturned to secure the position.

He dedicated his prize to his father — a principal at the Islamabad Model School for Boys, Karamabad — who according to him has always been a guiding source.

“The support of a family is also very important in your success story and I am fortunate that God has blessed me with such loving parents and sisters who have always been around and a constant source of support for me,” Nashit said. “It is their support that has brought me so far,” he added.

The student who also had a word of praise for his teachers said his teachers always appreciated him encouraged him to better.

Talking about his future aspirations, Nashit said he wanted to become a successful physician so that he could serve the people. “It is my dream to become a doctor and I am very close to my dream,” he said, adding the he wants to serve the underprivileged segment of the society.

About the curriculum, he said that the courses taught to the students were obsolete and needed major reforms to bring them at par with the modern world. “Mr Chips was taught 20 years ago and it is still part of the course despite the fact that the world has entirely changed”.

He insisted that a chapter on the rights of the religious minorities should be included in the course as there was a need to build a pluralistic society and harmonious environment where people could live in peace irrespective of their beliefs and faith.

Despite his lack of interest in politics the 18-year-old had a word of advice for chiefs of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s Dr Tahirul Qadri. He suggests that both the leaders should display maturity and avoid creating chaos in the country.

Nashit’s father, Khursheed Ahmad told The Express Tribune that he was proud of his son and would support him in his endeavours.

The same prize distribution ceremony, held at Waqarun Nisa College for Women, also acknowledged the efforts made by three deaf and mute girls— Sana Sattar, Memoona Naaz and Laraib Tanveer— from Sir Syed School and College of Special Education Rawalpindi who were awarded prizes for securing top three positions in the general group for matriculation examination among special children.

“Almost 700 hearing impaired children are being taught and given modern equipments free in our institution,” Shazia Ayub, a teacher accompanying the students told The Express Tribune.  She added that the children are very hard working and harbor innovative ideas and some are more capable than normal people.

Addressing the gathering, RBISE chairman Dr Zareef said that the board was in need of trained and skilled teachers and requested that relevant authorities help the board in this regard. He added that the board had appointed super checkers to minimise errors in the system.

He further said overall 47.87 per cent candidates passed the examination while 42.82 percent males and 51.7 per cent females were declared successful.

Majority of the positions were secured by students of Punjab Group of Colleges while, performance of government colleges of the Rawalpindi city remained poor. Only one female student of Vaqarun Nisa College for Women secured third position in the humanities group while rest of the positions were secured by students from Chakwal, Jehlum and Kahuta.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2014.