They overcame many a hurdle to shine bright
Siyama with her proud parents
Irshad Sreenthaj (29) and Fathima Siyama Ansar (25) live more than 300 kilometres away from each other, but the two young Economics scholars who graduated from the Universities of Jaffna and Sabaragamuwa last month, have startlingly similar stories to share as they celebrate resounding academic success- having had to persevere against much more than their traditional hijabs.
Irshad not only won a gold medal and two memorial prizes, but also had the highest Grade Point Average in the Faculty of Arts at the Jaffna University. She won the Dr. Nagalingam Balakrishnan Memorial Gold Medal for Economics in recognition for being the best student in Economics at the Special Degree Examinations in the Faculty of Arts, the Sir Arunachalam Mahadeva Memorial Prize and the Myliddy S. Swaminathan Memorial Prize for being the top student obtaining First Class at the Final Special Degree Examinations in the Faculty of Arts.
Siyama won five gold medals at the Sabaragamuwa University including the Honourable Lalith Athulathmudali Memorial Gold Medal for the Best Academic Performance in the University. She had the highest final Grade Point Average in the degree examinations.
Daughter of a labourer and a housewife, Irshad was a past pupil of Nachchaduwa Muslim MahaVidyalaya, Anuradhapura (Grade 1-11) and Jamiah Ayesha Siddeeqah in Mawanella where she studied up to ‘A’ levels.
Born and bred in Nachchaduwa in the dry but verdant fringes of Anuradhapura, she had to leave home for secondary schooling. It was her passion for math and science that sustained her, she says, but her family too was a ‘bedrock- … at every turn in life, and they have been there for me all the time’.
Irshad with her little daughter
But as the eldest of five children, Irshad could never forget that she had an immense ‘responsibility’.
Because she did not like ‘subjects that require lots of note-taking and memorizing’ she chose Economics at university.
Having married while in the second year of University, by the final year Irshad was pregnant. It was difficult to attend 80% of the lectures as required, but her classmates and teachers were highly supportive.
Her husband, Moulavi M. M. Mahboob, supported her financially, and his siblings too encouraged her. “From the bottom of my heart I say that my husband is the best gift from Allah to me,” she says.
In the final year Irshad gave birth- and both sides of the family pitched in helping look after her infant daughter.
Now a temporary Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Economics, Irshad hopes to continue her phenomenal journey in academia.
Siyama from Haliwela in Galle had more of a literary bent at school- reading and writing a lot. She lived in a house shared by three families, amounting to 16 members.
She had to burn a lot of midnight oil to keep up with her studies, but another disadvantage was that she lived in a very rural area. “With few essential facilities in my village, I had to travel to the city to meet my higher educational needs- school, tuition class- every day.”
It was a real challenge financially, “to send three daughters to a city school for their higher studies” as their father was the only breadwinner.
Siyama and her elder sister began undergraduate studies on the same day, and “we had to use even our childhood savings to complete my graduation (even though) I received a few scholarship funds from some well-wishers.”
Proud to be a graduate of the Sabaragamuwa University nestled in the heart of misty green hills, Siyama makes special mention of Senior Lecturer Dr. G.R.S.R.C. Samaraweera, “for being my role model and inspiration”.
“Alhamdullillah (Praise be to Allah), I was so excited when hearing about these five Gold Medals. It really was unexpected and I cannot explain my happiness. I cannot thank my parents through words, I should thank them through my actions. Now all I need is to find a good job and look after them well.”