Will to educate girls triumphs over poverty, isolation

The river on three sides of this remote village in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district, about 280 km from the state capital of Lucknow, and the lack of a  bridge makes the hamlet almost near inaccessible.  

The absence of the bridge not only made life of the people difficult but also posed huge difficulties for girls, who wanted to study as the nearest school was miles away and the makeshift bamboo bridge was too dangerous to cross.

Although the demand of the villagers for a river bridge has been there for years, it has not yet been met by politicians. The locals  could not construct a bridge but they did construct a different kind of bridge, a link that enabled their girls to cross the barriers to attain a quality education and shape their future.

The remote Muslimpatti village in the district, which has a 60 per cent population of Muslims, now boasts of a girls’ school. The girls of the village get education up to 10th standard in the school.
The school has come up entirely due to the efforts of the residents of the village and without any help from the government.

“The people came forward to donate the land for the school building and also contributed money for the construction,” said Dr Salman Sultan, a resident of the village and an associate professor at the prestigious Shibli National College in Azamgarh, who played an important role in getting the school come up at the village.

“It was not an easy task but the priority for the village people was educating their girls and all of them chipped in whatever way they could,” Dr  Sultan told Deccan Herald here.  Initially, there were problems but the strong desire for a school for girls overcame every difficulty.

There is a school about 7 km away but it has co-education system and the parents did not send their girls there. The other option was to send the girls to Beenapara, 12 km away, the locals said.
“There also were safety concerns,” the villagers said. All this was hampering the girls education, according to the villagers.

There are currently 250 girls enrolled at Muslimpatti Junior Niswan High School, according to Mirza Yasir Beg, another resident of the village, who is vice-principal of Shibli Inter College at Azamgarh. The girls are taught in accordance with the UP Board syllabi.

The school charges modest fee from the students, Beg said. T he teachers are also paid salary though it is not much given the resource crunch. “We are trying to secure recognition from the UP Board... there are some technical issues involved but we have not lost hope,” he adds.

As the school, which was set up in 2005, is not recognised what do the
students do to appear for  examination. “It is simple. They appear as private
students. The school approaches a nearby institution and enables the students to write examinations. This will help them in securing  school leaving certificate,” a
villager said.

The medium of instruction is Hindi and it would enable Hindu students to attend the girls-only school.
 
“The school has changed the education scene in the village...the girls are now
getting a good education and preparing themselves for future competitions,” says Dr Sultan. As an educationist himself, Dr Sultan understands the importance of the girls education only too well. The fact that a number of educationists from Shibli College are involved with the school and are offering their services free of charge only speaks about the importance they
attach to the education of the girls.

The village with a population of around 3,000 is dominated by Muslims. The
remaining are mostly Hindu backward class people. As agriculture is difficult to take up, most of the people work as labourers  elsewhere.

Dr Sultan has also been trying hard for a bridge over Tamsa river, that surrounds the village from three sides. “I have written to Congress leader Digvijay Singh also in this regard...a survey has been done but that’s all,” he said.

“I think the politicians must also listen to saner voices,” Dr Sultan says in a lighter vein. Incidently, one of the army chiefs of Pakistan, Mirza Aslam Beg, was born at Muslimpatti village.