Poverty and lack of resources could not stop students at Delhi Government schools from achieving success. Scoring the highest marks across all streams and among all Government schools, with a whopping 97.4 per cent, Ankit Saini desires to pursue Economics Honours from Shri Ram College of Commerce and go on to become the director of a multinational company (MNC).
Similar are the stories of other Class XII toppers of Government schools, who were felicitated by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex.
“I know I will be a successful man one day. I will take care of my family so that my mother does not have to work in others’ homes to earn a living for us. I want to get a proper treatment done for my father, who is bed-ridden due to paralysis,” said a hopeful Ankit, who lives in Shahbad Mohammadpur in South-West Delhi.
For Taruna, who topped in Vocational Studies with 92.8 per cent, working hard is the only way to success. “After school, I used to study for over five hours every day. I will now study in the Delhi University for which I have applied the forms,” she said. Taruna’s father is an auto-rickshaw driver and her mother is a cook.
Three other toppers along with six deputy directors and education officers, and 290 principals belonging to different Government schools in Delhi, were also felicitated in the occasion. lalit lakra from SV Co-ed School, Pashchim Vihar was one of the awardees for topping the Science stream with 92.6 per cent. In Humanities, two girls namely, Momina Sheikh and Diksha scored the highest with 95.2 per cent. This year 124 students of Delhi Government schools have been included in the list of 200 stream-wise toppers of Government schools at National level, to whom Union HRD Ministry would be presenting a cash award of Rs 1 lakh each.
Chief Minister Dikshit announced an additional award of Rs 50,000 to each of the 124 students. She said the mindset of the people should be changed and the Government schools should be promoted like in foreign countries. Education Minister Kiran Walia said 36 new schools will be started from July onwards and the appointment of teachers will be regularised soon. "2,000 additional classrooms will be added to the schools," she added.