Hyderabad: Here is an amazing story of a single mother and her only child who brought tears of joy to her eyes by securing the First rank in the UGC-NET JRF examination.
Anam Zafar, 25, secured the 100 percentile in the examination. Her mother, Rehana Khatoon, lives in Chandanpatti village, Darbhanga district in Bihar. When Rehana Khatoon heard about the feat achieved by her daughter she could not stop tears flowing down her cheeks.
Anam Zafar is in the last leg of her M Ed fourth Semester at Maulana Azad National Urdu University.
The Department of Education and Training felicitated Anam Zafar at a special event organised at the department on Wednesday, two days after the news broke out. Faculty members, students, and university officials gathered to celebrate her exceptional accomplishment.
Surprisingly, neither the Vice-Chancellor Prof Syed Ainul Hasan nor his two Special Officers (Deputy VCs) attended the felicitation.
During the ceremony, the faculty members praised Anam Zafar’s dedication, perseverance, and commitment to excellence. Her achievement was highlighted as a role model for aspiring researchers.
Prof Shaheen A. Shaik, Head of the Department, commended her hard work and stated, “Anam Zafar’s achievement is a testament to the high academic standards and research culture at MANUU. Her success will inspire many students to aim for excellence.”
Along with Anam Zafar, the department also felicitated other students who successfully qualified for UGC-NET and JRF. Their accomplishments were celebrated as a collective success of the university’s academic environment and the faculty’s dedicated mentorship.
It is said that the Education Department woke up to the rare “achievement of Anam” only after a news channel from Bihar interviewed her.
Anam’s mother was divorced by her husband when the girl was only eight years old. Working as a teacher at a private school for Rs 800 a month, Rehana Khatoon enrolled her girl in a school that worked under the Central Board of Education.
According to sources at MANUU, except for Anam’s uncle (her father’s brother), no one checked on her condition during her difficult years. Treading a difficult social and economic path her mother enrolled her in B Ed in Centre for Teachers’ Education of MANUU in Darbhanga. Her obvious next step was joining M Ed of the University at Hyderabad.
In the meantime, she was married to Johar Ali, a technocrat working with a private firm, in Hyderabad. The couple lives in Lingampally area, close to the MANUU campus.
Anam says she could not have trodden the difficult road so far if her mother had not encouraged at every step. Now my husband has joined my mother and wishes me to complete PhD, she says.
Anam, as a research fellow is expected to get about Rs 45,000 per month.
Anam expressed gratitude to her mother, mentors, faculty members, and family for their continuous support and encouragement. She credited the university’s academic environment and guidance from her professors as key factors behind her success.
