::: Star Insight :::

Behind The Scene
From Moulvibazar

Handicapped boy wins scholarship

Uttam Kumar Ghose was born without any digits or thumbs. He writes by grasping a pen in between his two palms. Yet, he still is a brilliant student.

Rajat Kanti Goswami

Physical disabled student Uttam Kumar Ghose has overcome a unique milestone in his academic performance. Believe it or not, the boy with no fingers on his hands secured first division in Primary School Completion Certificate 2010. He also achieved primary scholarship on the basis of his Primary school completion certificate examination's result.

Uttam Kumar Ghose was born without any digits or thumbs. He writes by grasping a pen in between his two palms. Yet, he still is a brilliant student. He was a student of the Bazaar Government Model Primary School in Moulvibazar district town. As a student of class five of this school last year, he took part in the Primary School Completion Certificate Examination 2010 and achieved such a unique result.

L-R: Uttam is showing his fingerless hands
and Uttam in his classroom

Uttam is the second son of Buddhadeb Ghose, and Shila Rani Ghose. While the mother is a housewife, the father works as a confectioner at a local sweetmeat shop in Moulvibazar. Buddhadeb earns a meager six thousand taka every month as salary from work. The family lives through monetary hardship on a daily basis with this limited-next-to-nothing income. It has been 25 years now that Buddhadeb migrated to Moulvibazar town from Laxmibazar of Dhaka city in search of a job. He now lives with his family, his wife and three sons, in a rented premise in the Barhat area of the town. The eldest of the sons is a local high-school farer of class nine, Uttam attends the sixth grade, and the youngest is a toddler of three.

Despite Uttam's disability, that would naturally discourage any other person from pursuing education, the boy has always been keen on going to school from his very childhood. Seeing the determination of the boy, Buddhadeb was compelled to enroll Uttam in a local primary school. He was spared the trouble of worrying for his son as the teachers of the Bazar Government Primary school had always cared for and provided all types of support towards the physically challenged boy. Reba Goswami, a senior teacher of the school, said “Uttam Kumar Ghose is our pride. He teaches the society that the physically disabled are able to perform well if they are guided properly.” Jayeda Motin Jhimli, another teacher from Uttam's school, told Star Insight that Uttam was surprisingly brilliant, despite his disability. He always completes his class work promptly and his hand writing, even compared to all the able bodied students, was exceptionally better in most cases.

The headmaster of the school, Md. Abdul Basit, also made it clear that Uttam Kumar Ghose is a meritorious student. Among the only five that achieved primary scholarships this year, Uttam was one. The headmaster relayed that the teachers of the school expected Uttam to achieve scholarships in talent poll as well because of his brilliance. But, he had to miss out on the opportunity due to slow writing speed that limits him in not being able to finish the full length of the examinations in time. Even so, he still achieved better results than most of the regular students in his class.

Headmaster Md Abdul Basit added, “Uttam and his family deserve financial help so that he and his brothers can continue their studies. If Uttam is financially patronized, he will be able to bring good results in every examination. It is impossible for a confectioner to ensure three meals a day for his family and still send his sons to school.”