Bhavana, an SSLC student at the Hebbagodi government high school in Bengaluru Rural district is among the 42 students selected from Karnataka to take part in the ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday.
Of the 42 students, 27 are from government schools. An elated Bhavana told DH, “I was not aware of the event and I got to know a few minutes before the closure of registration. The deadline give by the Ministry of Human Resources Development to send entries was 11.59 am on December 23 and I got to know about it at around 11.30 am. Immediately, I approached my teachers, accessed a computer in the school and registered myself. A few minutes later, I got a response and was given an online test.”
“I did not expect to get selected as thousands of students across the nation had registered for the same. I am so happy to be part of this discussion,” said Bhavana. Her father is a auto driver and her mother works as a housemaid.
When she was in class 8, Bhavana had bagged the fourth rank in the state in the National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship (NMMS) examinations.
Bhavana said she had the option to take the test in English or Hindi. “As I am comfortable in English, I took the test in English,” she said. The student will interact with the prime minister also, in
English.
Bhavana wants to ask the prime minister this question: “Every child has different talent/capacity. How can the government judge the children by conducting the same examination for everyone?”
Students selected from Karnataka have travelled to Delhi by train. As many as 14 teachers have accompanied these students.