Amit Madar, a Dalit student from Government High School at Jumanal village in Vijayapura district, has emerged topper in the SSLC examination this year. He scored 625 marks out of 625.
For Amit Madar, the result brought happiness, but it was not unexpected. “When I got admitted to eighth standard, I decided to score 625 marks. I studied accordingly and achieved this. It is an unforgettable day for all of us. The whole village is happy because of me. All villagers are proud of me,” he said.
Amit Madar hails from a poor agricultural family in the village which is situated about 10 km south of Vijayapura off Hubballi-Vijayapura Road.
Amit Madar lost his father when he was a year old. His mother, an agricultural labour who toiled on the farmlands of others for wages, raised her three children and worked hard to ensure that all the three were given good education. Though the family had a piece of farmland, it was given to Amit Madar’s uncle on lease as there was none in the family to manage it.
When the Jumanal Government High School teachers conducted online classes during COVID-19, Amit Madar did not have a smartphone to learn the lessons. He requested his friends and relatives and somehow managed to attend classes using their smartphones.
Amit Madar is the youngest of the three children. His sister, the eldest, is in her final year of a degree course. His brother works at a bookshop while continuing to study for his second year degree course.
“Amit Madar is a bookworm. He wanted to study hard and get a good job to lift the family out of poverty. He is always seen studying. He sacrificed all other childhood joys, including playing games. He was so busy studying that he often forgot to eat,” Abhilasha Madar, Amit Madar’s sister, told The Hindu.
“I studied six to eight hours a day. I did not let my mind to divert elsewhere. My target was 100% marks and I am happy that I have achieved it. My teachers helped me develop a strategy for examination, apart from sharing knowledge,” Amit Madar said.
He wants to study medicine and heal the poor. “My teachers keep telling me that I have to be an IAS officer. I will try to do that. It never crossed my mind that I was in a government school. Some people think that only the poor opt for government schools as they have no choice. Some people say that the quality of teaching in government schools is low. Both beliefs are baseless,” he said.
Jumanal Government High School, which is close to Vijayapura city, was preferred over other top private schools in Vijayapura, says C.A. Rudragoudar, retired Head Master of the school, who had earlier taught Amit Madar for a couple of years.
“The school is well-equipped with qualified teachers and other infrastructure, including a computer section and science laboratory. The teachers in the school are such experts that they are often invited by other schools across the State as resource persons to get their teachers trained. There are top private high schools in Vijayapura. But, students and parents prefer this Government High School over them,” Mr. Rudragoudar said.
He added that, apart from Amit Madar, there are 35 students among the total 59 in the school who have made remarkable achievements in the SSLC exam.
