A 16-year-old Hindu girl sprang a surprise by making it to the merit list in the results of the West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education Examination 2017, which were declared here on Tuesday. Prashama Sasmal, student of the Khalatpur High Madrasah in Howrah district ranked eight in the merit list of the Class X final examination.
She scored 729 marks out of 800, which is about 91.9%. Speaking to The Hindu , Prashama said although there was a school — Bireshwar Balika Vidyalaya — in her village Hariharpur in Udaynarayanpur, she choose to study in the madrasah.
A new experience
“My father knew some teachers of the madrasah and it was closer to my home. I got the support of all teachers. I will complete my Class XII from the same institution,” she said.
She also said reading Islam Parichay and Arabic, the two subjects which students have to take in the Madrasah Board along with other subjects, was an “experience” for her.
“No one in my family had any knowledge of the subjects before. I have not got my mark sheet but I think I have got 97 in Islam Parichay and 64 in Arabic, which is compulsory optional subject,” the student said.
Of the 33 students who appeared in the Class X examination from the madrasa Prashama is studying in, about 9 students were Hindu, including six girls and three boys. “My brother Pramit Sasmal is in Class VII in the same madrasa,” Prashama, daughter of a local panchayat official, said.
About 2, 287 non- Muslim students (mostly Hindus) have appeared in the West Bengal Board of Madrasah Education Examination 2017. This is roughly 4.3 % of the 52,115 students who appeared in the examination.
‘Rare instance’
Another interesting factor of the Madrasah Board examination in West Bengal is girls outnumbering boys by a large number. Of the 52, 115 students who appeared in the examination from about 600 High Madrasahs of the State, about 36, 276 ( about 69 %) were girls.
Abid Hussain, president of Madrasah Board, described the feat achieved by Prashama Sasmal as a rare instance in which a non-Muslim girl student made it to the merit list. In 2014, a girl, Mou Halder from Bogdhara Siddikiya High Madrasah in Bankura district, made it to merit list of the Madrasah board exams.
