AIZAWL:
When 17-year-old Myanmar refugee Sangi (name changed) was admitted to Class X in Mizoram last year, it was a big challenge for her as the education system and syllabus were completely different in India.
But her hard work paid off and she cleared the board exams, conducted by the Mizoram Board of School Education, by scoring a first class and a letter marks in Social Science.
“I expected that I would get letter marks in Mathematics, English and Mizo language, but I got it in Social Science,” Sangi said of the exams for which results were declared on May 17.
She had fled Myanmar along with her family after the military coup early last year and resumed her studies during the last academic session.
Being the eldest among the three siblings and sheltering in Myanmar border Farkawn village in Champhai district, she hardly had time for studies as she had to cook and do other household chores. The only time she got to study was late at night and it would sometimes stretch to early morning or till the time she couldn’t fight sleep.
Her biggest problem came when she had to learn her lessons in English and Mizo, as the medium of instruction in Myanmar’s Chin state was Burmese.
She, however, was lucky as she used to read books written in English even when she was in Myanmar. The books she read during her younger days were fairy tales, and apart from them, Limitless written by Jim Kwik, and Pollyanna a novel by Eleanor H Porter. She also read the Bible intensively, which was a massive help during her studies.
“I had read the whole New Testament for around seven times,” she said.
Though the whole family can speak Mizo, she faced difficulties in learning the language in High School as the dialect mainly used in Chin state was either Falam or Lai. She said that the teachers were extremely helpful and would explain whenever she had problems in understanding the lessons.
She desires to become a doctor, but there are no Science subjects in the Higher Secondary Schools in Farkawn village, leaving her parents to deliberate what would be best for her.
Notably, this year, at least 29 Myanmar students were enrolled for Class X board exams, but it is not clear if all of them appeared or cleared it.
According to an official of the school education department, over 1,000 children are now enrolled in Mizoram schools in different classes.