They beat the odds to excel in academicsMOHAMED IMRANULLAH S.The HinduA. Mohamed Navas, one of the toppers in TamilNadu Engineering Admissions- <strong>2013</strong>, working at a workshopmanufacturing springs for bicycle stands in Madurai. Photo:R. Ashokscore has only increased the anxiety regarding futureexpenses for her studies.Daughter of a cattle feed seller, the girl has excelled afterfaced many a humiliation for not paying her school fees intime, her inability to spend for transportation and so on.Her elder sister too scored 1,033 out of 1,200 marks in the PlusTwo examinations a few years ago.But could not join an engineering course for want of moneyand ended up pursuing a bachelor’s degree in mathematics.The two girls studied with the financial assistance from theirmaternal uncle M.Jahir Hussain, himself a father of three girls,who struggles to make ends meet with the paltry incomefrom his textile business.Ms.Fathima’s mother S.Mahabu Beevi (51), a school dropout,says: “My father, a tea shop owner at Thumbaipatti in Melur,did not educate me. But I do not want that to happen to mydaughters. The education my children receive at schools andcolleges is for worldly life and the religious education that Iimpart to them at home is for life after death. I am confidentAllah will show us the way forward.”Keywords: Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions, Muslims,minority community, backward class, socio-economicconditionshttp://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/they-beat-the-odds-to-excel-in-academics/article4829459.eceA boy tops engineering admissions, while a girl is all set topursue medicineMuslims in the country are more often than not associatedwith illiteracy and backwardness besides being projected asproponents of gender inequality. These attributes are slowlybut steadily getting watered down as many children fromthe community are beating the odds to excel in academics.A case in point is that of A. Mohamed Navas, a 17-year-oldresident of Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board quarters atAvaniapuram here. Employed in a workshop thatmanufactures springs meant for bicycle stands for a dailywage of Rs.150 ever since he completed Class XII, the boyhas topped the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA)this year.With a cut-off mark of 194.50 out of 200, he has beendeclared State first rank holder among Backward Class-Muslim category students in the vocational stream. Havingstudied in a Tamil medium government-aided school allthrough, he is now all set to join B.E., or B.Tech. degreecourse in a government engineering college.Nevertheless, the irony remains that the boy, who lost hisfather at the age of one, does not have anyone to offer himeven the paltry expenses he might have to incur at agovernment college.His mother A.Thara Hussain Beevi has been pedalling hersewing machine for the last 16 years to feed him and hiselder sister A. Zeenath Nishan, now a B.Com graduate.Navas opened a bank account in his name in June last yearfor receipt of State Government’s one-time scholarship ofRs.2,000 given to Plus Two students from minoritycommunity.But the account remains dormant till date with the initialdeposit of Rs.100 as the scholarship amount is yet to bedeposited.Ms. Beevi was offering Namaaz (prayers) at her single roomaccommodation when The Hindu knocked at her door for aninterview with Navas whom she summoned, over aborrowed mobile phone, from the workshop.She had no idea that Navaz’s name and photograph hadbeen displayed on Anna University’s website until arequisition was made for the interview. The only thing thathad been bothering her ever since he scored high marks inPlus Two was the expenses that she might have to incur onhis higher education.Burkha-clad girlNot very different is the case of S. Syed Ali Fathima, a 17-year-old Burkha-clad Muslim girl of Othakadai here.With a cut-off mark of 197 out of 200, she stands a fairchance of getting a medical seat under government quotathrough 3.5 per cent reservations provided for BackwardClass-Muslims.However, the girl is in no mood to celebrate as her goodRamadan provides ana n n u a l t r a i n i n gopportunity that is meantto fulfil the characterbuildingneeds for the resto f t h e y e a r<strong>Bakhabar</strong>26
Commit your shareof Uniformsto poor girl students getting absolutely free education.Respect the women? Help us educate them in RAHBAR-e-Banat Madrasacum School [http://school.biharanjuman.org/]Cost of 1 set of uniform for each girl: Rs. 395/= (salwar-suit + scarf/ dupatta)[Only for Girls of weaker sections, studying at <strong>Bihar</strong> <strong>Anjuman</strong>'s firstmadrasa-cum-school project]Individual Donors may please transfer their contributions to the followingbank account of RAHBAR, the NGO of <strong>Bihar</strong> <strong>Anjuman</strong>. Kindly send an emailto school@biharanjuman.org, once you have made the transfer, so that wemay be able to maintain a proper account, at our levels]. NRI donors: pleasesend scanned copy of your passport copy, which is a mandatoryrequirement.A/c name: RAHBAR;A/c number: 00891450000123Bank name: HDFC Bank;Branch: D-965, Mata Ka Mandir, New Friends Colony,New Delhi-110065IFSC Code: HDFC0000089; MICR Code: 110240009Non-Indian donors, kindly do not transfer any funds to this bank account.An idea of the budget is given in the below table:The students in this madarsa are from poor families, most of whom are notgoing to any schools or madrasas, at all. Therefore, zakah funds may beused to impart literacy to them. Yateem girls will beaccommodated in a hostel which is the first buildingbeing built [structure of 3 floors are ready, thus 24 roomscan be used once finishing work is completed]. Hostel isplanned to become functional by December 2012, insha-Allah, after completing the boundary wall.You may donate (from any funds at your disposal) for:(A) Sponsor construction cost for eisal-e-sawab andsadaqa-e-jaariya:(a) construction of class-rooms (one classroom: Rs. 4lakhs): total number of classrooms planned = 15(architectural dwg @ http://bit.ly/eFUnHI)(b) Construction of hostel (one hostel room: Rs. 2 lakhs):total number of rooms planned = 24 (architectural dwg@ http://bit.ly/eFUnHI)(c) Construction of a library-cum-reading room @ Rs. 4lakhs + furniture @ Rs. 1 lakh(d) Construction of the office room @ Rs. 3 lakhs + officefurniture @ Rs. 50,000/=(g) hand pump for drinking water, Rs. 10,000/= (withplatform), near hostel building(h) 2 Overhead water-tanks + 1 electric submersiblepump + plumbing work for hostel building, Rs. 75,000/=(B) Regular (monthly, quarterly, annual) contribution:(a) Sponsor the principal’s salary @ Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 8,000per month,(b) sponsor a teaching staff @ Rs. 4,000 to 6,000 permonth,(c) sponsor a non-teaching staff (matron, peon, muhassil,etc.) @ Rs. 3,000 to 4,000 per month(d) sponsor a student's expenses (non-resident): Rs. 200per monthEducate poor girls; give them class-rooms and drinkingwater facility (in hostel – pic in right)<strong>Bakhabar</strong>27