While only one student, Ankita Basappa Konnur, scored cent percent marks this year in the SSLC examination, seven students shared the second position by securing 624 marks out of 625. Coming from various districts of the State, these students aspire to become doctors, civil servants, and engineers.
Ankita, who studied at a Morarji Desai Residential School in Bagalkot district, comes from an agricultural family. Her father Basappa Konnur is a farmer in Vajramatti village and owns six acres of land. Her mother Geetha is a homemaker who works on their family farm occasionally.
Ankita had no access to a mobile phone in the hostel. She made use of the digital library in the school. She credits her success to studying every day. She would wake up around 5 a.m. and study for at least two hours before attending classes. On returning from school, she would revise the lessons learned that day before joining the others in playing games on the school grounds in the evening.
“When you are in your house, you are expected to help with domestic chores and to attend various events in your family and village. But when you are in a hostel, studying is the only task before you,” she said. She wants to pursue science in pre-university, complete a course in engineering and then serve the nation as an IAS officer.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also congratulated Ankita for her result. “Ankita who has emerged as the only student to score 625 out of 625, will be an inspiration to the children of the country. I wish that Ankita’s educational path will continue to be full of achievements and that she will grow to be a great asset to society,” he said.
Cycling six kilometres to school
Siddanth Naikaba Gadage from Acharya Subalasagar High school in Shedabal village near Chikkodi educational district in Belagavi, who also comes from an agricultural family, scored 624 out of 625. He cycled six kilometres to his school every day. He credited the innovative study method at his school where students read a chapter and picked what they thought were important questions, for his results.
“We had to frame 20 questions every day from all important subjects. The school removed the fear of examinations by holding practice examinations every week. Real-time examinations were held in the last month before the final examinations. That was really helpful,” he said. He aspires to become an IAS officer.
Daughter of security guard
Jahnavi S., who scored 623 out of 625 from Belluru Kamalamma Subbanna Vidya Bhavana High School in Mysuru, is the daughter of Shivakumar, a security guard at a medical college.
“I was expecting this result since I had done well in the examinations,” she said crediting the result on a focused approach towards her studies.
She aspires to take up science in pre-university education and graduate as a Computer Science engineer. “I aim to finish my engineering and take up a job immediately to support my family,” she said.
