One among the thousands of students who appeared for their degree examination on Monday was 12-year-old Naina Jaiswal,who is pursuing her BA in mass communication,political science,remedial English,phonetics,English and Hindi as her subjects.
Jaiswal,also a tennis champ,passed her class X examination at the age of eight and completed her Intermediate at 11.Talking about why she wants to finish her education early,Naina said,I want to have ample time for sports.At 16,I want to finish my PG so that by the time I turn 20 I can concentrate on my practice and realise my dream of winning an Olympic gold medal for the country as well as start preparing for the UPSC exam.
Winner of nine gold medals in various national and international table tennis tournaments in the past year,Naina was home schooled till the age of seven and attended school at eight to write her Class X board exams.She is currently a student of St Marys College,Yousufguda,and she completed her Intermediate too from the same college.College officials confirmed that she was indeed 12-year-old and currently in degree first year.Officials also added that she had taken special permission from the Board of Intermediate before appearing for the Inter exams.
When I went to write the first exam on Monday the invigilators were amazed.The people sitting around me in the examination hall,too,were surprised, she said.
Elaborating on her balancing studies and sports,she said,All through the year I am busy travelling to participate in various tournaments.I attend college only when I am in the city.Around two months before the exam,I start preparing and I study only for two to three hours a day.I dont try to learn answers by rote. She revealed that she does feel a little out of place among her much older classmates,but everyone at college does their best to make her comfortable.Nainas father,Ashwani Kumar Jaiswal,a lawyer,said that apart from academics and sports,she is also interested in music.She plays piano and sings too.She is very ambitious and wants to pursue all her interests simultaneously,which is why she is keen on completing her education so early.