Meet Manipur Boy: CBSE's Number 1

Bangalore: Mohammad Ismat has a story to inspire millions. On Monday, Ismat took the top spot in CBSE’s class 12 examamination and surpassed all other candidates across the country. Ismat, a candidate from the ‘economically weaker section’ secured a score of 495 out of 500 in the Science stream.

The 20-year-old Manipur boy hails from a small Manipur village that gets two to four hours of electricity a day. This meant he had to plan his eight hours of study, for he had a dream and he realized it. Despite the poor educational facilities in his village of Lilong and almost not appearing for his class 12 exams because he did not have money to fill his exam registration form did not stop him from climbing up the ladder.

Ismat is the son of a primary school teacher and attended the Zenith Academy Sangaiprou in Imphal. Ismat said to the TOI "After passing my matric from Sainik School, Imphal with 94.2 percent, I could not continue to study there because of my family's financial condition."

Having learnt that Zenith Academy facilitates those who do not have the means to pursue their studies, Ismat approached the school. S M Singh, the management secretary of Zenith Academy  said "Once I was sure Ismat was sincere and had the mental strength to become the best among equals, I got him admitted to the academy for the minimum possible fee," as reported by TOI.