Homeschooled 12-yr-old wonder girl writes her Class-X examination

HOWRAH: A homeschooled 12-year-old girl, who proved she is nothing short of a wonder kid with her outstanding performance in a test taken by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) in August last year, appeared for the Madhyamik examination on Tuesday. A resident of Howrah’s Amta, the under-age examinee Saifa Khatun has never been to school. She was allowed to appear as an external candidate after taking a qualifying test from a girls’ high school in Howrah Maidan.
“Yes, we have granted permission to the student after she qualified in a special test. I believe if a student feels confident to appear in Madhyamik with adequate preparation then the student should be granted permission,” said Madhyamik Board President, Kalyanmoy Ganguly.

After Tuesday’s Bengali paper, Saifa came out all smiles from her designated exam centre at Ramakrishna Vidyamandir in Howrah’s Paddmapukur. Saifa has been suffering from fever for the past two weeks. “Although I am sick, I am confident that I did well. I had to take break for an hour out of the three hour 15 minute examination,” said Saifa.
The girl’s father Sheikh Mohammad Ainul said: “From early childhood, Saifa displayed an exceptional memory. When she was one year and eight months old, she could recite rhymes after her mother read them to her just once.”
Ainul added: “My daughter finished studying the Madhyamik syllabus by the time she was 11years old. We always wanted her to attend school but the ones in our neighbourhood cited rules when my daughter insisted she wanted to study in Class-VIII when she was eight-years-old.”
The father added, “In 2017, we appealed to WBBSE to allow my daughter to appear as an external candidate for the 2018 Madhyamik examination. The board said Saifa was too young to appear. In April last year, we wrote to the chief minister with an appeal to let Saifa appear for Madhyamik 2019. A month later, education minister Partha Chatterjee called us. He spoke to Saifa and recommended the board to let my daughter appear as a special candidate.”