May is the month for the results of CBSE, both Class X and Class XII, IAS, IIT-JEE and many others. Thousands of success stories are there. I came across four such stories, which appeared in various newspapers that excited me.

First was about Abhyananda Gurukul. It is situated at Kumrar in Patna. Under a tin shade Abhayanand teaches 30 students who are very poor irrespective of their caste. After one year of preparation, the students appear in the IIT entrance exam. Abhayanand, an IPS officer who was shunted from one place to another during Lalu's regime.

In the first batch 22 out of 30 students cleared the exam. Year after year success numbers increased. This year it was 28 out of 30. The students live under the tin shade, and cook their food. This methodology resembles a bit with gurukul hence, the name. Each student has his own poverty-ridden story to tell.

The second story is about a poor Muslim girl, married to Sheikh Salar, who earned his livelihood as a pani-puri hawker in Vishakhapatnam. All young children have a dream but most of these dreams remain unrealised and get crushed under adverse circumstances. This young 15-year-old girl wanted to study and become a software engineer. Going by family circumstances it was an illusory dream. She talked about her dream with her husband who could not give an affirmative reply. But she managed to pursue her education with help from her husband's earnings whatever it was at the end of the day. As the luck would have, her perseverance bore results, she was picked up by Infosys as a software engineer in campus selection. I can't imagine the type of hardship the couple might have undergone in these years.

Obviously, the husband was the happiest person on fulfilment of his wife's dream. It is unbelievable that a girl coming from an orthodox Muslim family could realise her childhood dream and that too with the help of her.

The third story of the month unfolded when the IAS exam result were declared. Govind, son of a rickshaw-puller in Varanasi lived in a 12 X 8 ft tenement along with his three sisters, mother and father. He did his schooling from local Usmanpura School but he always dreamt of making a name for himself.

There was a financial setback to the family when Govind's father met with an accident and fractured his leg. However, his father started a rickshaw repair shop to ensure that his son's studies were not interrupted. Govind was very much aware of the family's financial condition. He did everything to clear the IAS exam in first attempt. He was ranked 48th. When the media contacted his father he could not realise full meaning of clearing the IAS exam, and simply said that he was happy that his son had got a Government job without paying any bribe.

Coming from such a poor family, the fact that Govind could realise his dream is a big thing. Fifty-five years back I completed my high school. My dream then was to become a bus conductor. For me Govind's success story denotes quantum jump of present generation's dreams and ambitions.

The fourth story is that of Mayank, though his story is little different. His father passed away when he was small. He ran a grocery shop to support his family. He paid school fee through earnings from his tuitions. Despite being so hard pressed he got 98.4 per cent in Class XII exam of CBSE and topped in his stream of subjects.

Phool Singh, Principal of Ratan Prakash Shishu Mandir, Jharia, is justifiable proud of his student. When Mayank touched his mother's feat, she was in tears.

These stories came into public attention because they were published in The Hindustan Times, Asian Age, Indian Express and The Times of India. However, there might be many hundreds of such examples every year that go unnoticed.

One can see it happening in cities, towns and villages wherever schools are there. In most of the Government schools teachers are absent 80 per cent of the times. Recently I visited a village called Mera, the students told that there are seven posts of teachers in the school but nobody comes, only one clerk was there on duty.

In many States private public schools are mushrooming. As a Member of Parliament I had a chance to visit six districts in Bihar. The visit confirmed the phenomena of Government schools being in shambles whereas private public schools were mushrooming.

There are reports that even among poorest sections of jhuggi-jhoparis parents spent 40 per cent of their income on education of their children.

The present day education system needs to be re-oriented so that genius and brilliance can blossom. The examples given in this write-up only symbolise explosion of ambitions and cravings of the 'family'. The new generation is capable of doing wonders.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.com, June 03, 2007