<i>Toasts of Narsingdi</i>

L-R: Sadia Shikder and Moon Rahman

The conference room of the deputy commissioner of Narsingdi was abuzz with excitement in presence of Sadia Shikder and Moon Rahman who secured outstanding positions in the primary terminal examination.
The little girls of Monohardi Model Government Primary School in Narsingdi appeared at the reception the district administration gave at the DC office yesterday for their remarkable achievement the whole district is proud of.
As soon as they arrived, each pair of eyes of the gathering greeted the girls in admiration and love.
Of the two, Sadia Shikder obtained the first place and the other one got the seventh position countrywide in the newly introduced and largest public examination taken by a total of 18,23,465 students in Bangladesh.
After the reception, Sadia and Moon gave their views of the success to The Daily Star.
"Apart from hard work and perseverance, a daily routine must be followed to get the optimum result," Sadia said.
Understanding is more important than memorising the lessons, she added.
She also stressed the importance of following teachers' instructions in preparing for the examinations.
For her success, Sadia gave maximum credit to her mother and school teachers and said the teachers are approachable at her school that made the communication between students and teachers easier.
"We need not have any private tuition as teachers at school are very supportive and their lectures are enough for us to prepare for the exams,"
Asked about the aim she endeavours to achieve, Sadia jumped from her chair with a jerk and said promptly that she wants to be a pilot as the challenges of the profession amazes her.
Sadia, a daughter of a madrasa teacher, said that the number of classrooms should be increased, as students are not well accommodated.
Moon Rahman wants to be a doctor as she feels that people of the country don't get proper health care.
Like Sadia, she also gave the credit for her success to her mother, a teacher of a school, and her school teachers.
The teachers used to give tests on every lesson, which also helped them gain confidence, she said.
Clear understanding of the subject helps them gain good marks, she added.
With the success of the two girls, Monohardi Model Government Primary School became a role model to others for its teaching procedure.
A total of 112 students appeared in the terminal exam from the school, and 109 students got first division while only three got second division.
Rokhsana Afroze, headmistress of the school, said it is not the first success the school had achieved so far and mentioned, since 2006, her school is having the highest number of students in the district getting scholarships.
"Our responsibility has been increased further with the brilliant results of our students," she added.
"We give two extra hours to our students so that the classes should be enough for our students to learn the lessons," the headmistress said.
Besides, she said special classes are arranged for students who cannot cope with the regular classes.
The number of students winning scholarship in the last four years is 25 in 2008, 25 in 2007, 31 in 2006 and 18 in 1005.
DC Amrita Bario handed over crests to Sadia and Moon.