Back in school whenever students set a benchmark or achieved an incredible academic feat, principals and teachers would bestow them with an award or a prize. The gifts that such students received were mostly storybooks and stationery. However, the principal of a school in Punjab went several steps further to award students for their academic achievements.
For 12 years, no student from class 10 and class 12 of Shaheed Gurdas Ram Memorial Government Senior Secondary School made it to the merit list of the Punjab Education Board Exams. So, to encourage the students even more, the Principal of the school, Rakesh Sharma, promised that if anyone makes it to the merit list, he would fulfil one of their deepest wishes, reported News18.
And finally, after so many years of waiting, 4 students (2 from class 10 and 2 from class 12) made it to the merit list. When Rakesh Sharma asked the students what is it they wished for, they said they want to travel by air. So Mr. Sharma booked flight tickets for the 4 of them so they could travel to the destination of their choice.
“I announced in a prayer meeting that if any student of 10th or 12th class secures merit positions in board exams, I will ensure air travel for any destination of their choice within the country,” he had said in a prayer meeting.
Two class 12 students, Bhajanpreet Kaur and Simranjeet Kaur, who made it to the merit list, travelled to Goa from Amritsar via flight last November where they attended the International Innovation and Invention Expo.
In the last week of January, the two other students from class 10 will be travelling to Delhi from Amritsar where they will be visiting Rashtrapati Bhavan, Red Fort, and other notable places.
All students from the school come from lower and middle-class families. Bhajanpreet’s father is a priest and Simranjeet’s father is a truck mechanic. Inspired by them, 22 more students have registered themselves for the merit positions.
We wish them all the best!