SSC GPA-5: Girl who once lost leg in road crash now struggles with education costs

Miftahul Jannat, 18, lost her right leg after a pickup van ran over her while she was going to school in 2019, and since then, she has been living with a leg. But she never stopped studying.

She had received the news of achieving the primary scholarship from hospital bed. She studied hard and moved on. Eventfully, she scored GPA-5 in Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations in 2024. Defying the odds in her life, Miftahul Jannat is determined to move ahead and wants to become a physician in future. But family said she is struggling to get necessary supports and facilities because of the limited earnings of her father, who is the lone earner of their family.

Miftahul Jannat, daughter of Rafiqul Islam from South Burujbagan in Sharsha upazila of Jashore, achieved GPA-5 in Science group in 2024. She now studies in class 11 at Navaron Degree College. She said, “I want to become a physician, and I am studying accordingly. Come what may, I will become a doctor.”

Family said the journey of her study was not so easy at all. On the morning of 20 March 2019, Miftahul Jannat was going to school by a van. A pickup van of Power Division, coming from opposite direction, hit the van in front of the school gate next to the Jashore-Benapole highway.

In the impact of the collision, she fell on road, and the pickup van ran over her at once, damaging her right hand and right leg. Physicians later amputated her right leg below the knee. Four days after the incident, the results of the primary scholarship examinations were published on 24 March. Miftahul Jannat received the news of achieving talent pool scholarship, lying on a bed of the female surgery ward at the Jashore 250-bed General Hospital.

Relatives said Miftahul Jannat’s father Rafiqul Islam, 41, is a teacher at the Navaron Kindergarten. After her daughter lost a leg in road accident, Rafiqul Islam sold lands and took Miftahul Jannat to Vellore in India where her daughter received an artificial leg at a cost of Tk 1.05 million. Eventually, Rafiqul Islam became penniless. He now owns just a 5.5 decimal of land, and there is a three-room one-storied building on it. He lives there along with his wife, two son and daughter. His son Muntakim Rafi studies at a local Hifz madrasa. Rafiqul Islam earns about Tk 20,000 by teaching at the kindergarten and tutoring at home. Miftahul Jannat’s mother Muslima Khatun is homemaker. She raises two cows and two calves at home. Other than this, the family has no sources of income, and they run family and provide their children’s educational expenses from it.

Rafiqul Islam said, “I understand Miftahul’s pain. I earn very less, and I am providing her education costs with it. Half of my income is spent for her education. Miftahul wants to become a physician. No matter how tough it will be, I will continue her study till the end.”

Navaron Degree College principal Ibrahim Khalil highly praised the hard work of Miftahul Jannat. He said Miftahul Jannat is a brilliant student, but she became victim of a big accident. Yet, she continues to study with a firm determination. She has also performed well in examinations at college. The college does not take her tuition fees, and teachers also assist her on academic issues.

A news tiled ‘Jashore’s Miftahul who lost leg in road accident achieves GPA-5’ was published in Prothom Alo on 12 May 2024. After that, a US expatriate provided her with some financial support.

This report appeared in the online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Hasanul Banna