Tamanna Akter Noora, a girl in Jashore’s Jhikargachha upazila born without arms and one leg, has passed this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination with flying colours, securing a GPA-5 by writing with her lone foot.
As she has inspired thousands with her perseverance and spirit, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana congratulated her personally via phone following her success in the HSC examination.
Tamanna, who hails from Alipur village of the upazila, secured GPA-5 from the respective board this year, writing with her foot. She had also performed brilliantly in PEC, JSC and SSC tests. She sat this year’s HSC exams from Bankra Degree College, her family source said.
Tamanna is the daughter of Raushan Ali and Khadija Parveen, an artist couple of Bankra Alipur village in Jhikargachha upazila of Jashore. She achieved GPA-5 in every examination – Primary Education Completion Examination (PECE) Junior School Certificate (JSC), and Secondary School Certificate (SSC) by writing with one foot, said Helal Khan, the headmaster of the school.
“Tamanna has trained her leg to draw pictures as well as graphs for geometry and science. She won several prizes at the upazila level for her creative drawings. Following her successes, she also secured GPA 5 in this year’s HSC examination,” said Samshur Rahman, principal of Bankra Degree College.
“She was born without two arms and a leg. But she is able to do almost all the work through her willpower. She had always been a good student, and now she aspires to be a government official and work for the marginal people of the country after completing her higher studies from Dhaka University,” said her mother, Khadija Parveen.
“I always wanted to have a normal life like other youths of the country. My parents always supported me through the thick and thin of my life and made me believe that my physical disability does not define me in any way,” said Tamanna.
“I am currently preparing to sit for the admission test to continue my higher studies. I want to study in a research-based field at Dhaka University, and afterwards, I want to join the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) to help people like me,” she said.
However, as the family is not affluent enough to financially support their daughter, her parents are apprehensive of whether they can continue their daughter’s studies. “All three of my children are studying, and I am the sole breadwinner for the family. My financial condition is not adequate to support their dreams,” said Tamanna’s father, Raushan, with a sad voice. “We will highly appreciate if the government aid us anyway to mitigate our woes,” he added.
On January 24 last, Tamanna wrote a letter to the prime minister, stating her two dreams, including meeting the premier. Tamanna is the eldest of the three children of the artist couple. Tamanna’s father, Raushan Ali is a teacher at Chhota Poudaulia Mahila Dakhil Madrasa (Non-MPO) in Jhikargachha upazila and her mother, Khadija Parveen is a housewife.
Tamanna’s younger sister Mumtahina Rashmi is a sixth-grader, and her brother Muhibullah Taj is in class one.
