So strong was 22-year-old Reshma Sultana’s passion for teaching that she appeared for the Karnataka Teachers’ Eligibility Test (KARTET) on Sunday, 24 hours after she gave birth to a baby boy. Ms. Sultana had undergone a caesarean section at the government hospital in Bhadravati city at 11 a.m. on Saturday. She regained consciousness from anaesthesia at 2 p.m. After seeing the baby, she reminded her husband Toufiq Ahmed, a taxi driver, about the test.
“As she had just undergone the operation, I told her to forget about the test and take rest. But she was determined. After seeking the doctor’s permission, I decided to take her to write the test,” Mr. Ahmed said.
Ms. Sultana arrived at S.R. Nagappa Shetty Memorial National College of Applied Sciences in an ambulance. The officials at the examination centre had arranged a separate room for her. While medications were being administered through IV drips on her left hand, Ms. Sultana entered the options on the answer sheet. A nurse from the hospital was present with her.
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Her mother Zabin Taj and mother-in-law Zeenath Unnisa looked after the baby while a determined Sultana wrote the examination. Speaking to journalists, Ms. Sultana said: “I taught in a private school in Kengapura village in Channagiri taluk. It gives me immense pleasure to impart education to rural children who are subjected to many forms of deprivation. After passing the KARTET, I would like to continue working in a rural school,” she said.