Assam girl secures 4th position in Class 10 exam

The 8-kilometre-long road from her house to the school is in very poor condition and remains completely muddy during the entire summer season. Public vehicles do not ply on this road.

Sinam Jaiphabi Chanu, the daughter of a shopkeeper from a poor and marginal family living in that area, only had a bicycle to traverse this muddy road.

She had to cycle for 16 kms taking two hours every day to continue her studies at the school.

On Monday, the results of the Assam Class 10 board examinations came out. Chanu bagged the 4th position in the state. The 15-year-old teenager lives in Churachandpur village. It is 46 kms south of Silchar, the headquarters of Cachar district in the southern Assam region.

Chanu studied at Holy Cross School in Kabuganj in Cachar district. Not having adequate facilities in her house, she used to study under a tree in her village, mostly in the daytime when the school remained closed. There was no question of a private tutor.

“I enjoyed reading under the tree as I could concentrate more on my studies,” she said. Churachandpur lacks basic facilities like clean drinking water. Generally the villagers drink the pond water.

Chanu often has to collect water from the nearby pond with her mother to fill up the vessels in their house.

Her mother, Ibema Devi, passed the Assam government teacher eligibility test in 2012 but could not secure a job as she had already crossed the upper age limit for teaching positions in government schools.

“Today, I am very happy that my daughter could achieve this rank,” she said.

Chanu wishes to become a software engineer and wants to learn about Artificial Intelligence. However, she doesn’t have a computer or laptop at home. Her father, Sinam Ibocha Singha, runs a small shop in the village.

She said, “Once I can afford to buy a computer, I will start learning coding.”

The family belongs to the Meitei community, an ethnic group of Manipur. Chanu’s village is also not far from the Assam-Manipur border.

When she was asked about the current volatile situation in the neighbouring state, Chanu replied, “I have heard something is happening there, but I do not know in much detail. However, I want peace to return to Manipur at the earliest.”