Rickshaw Puller’s Daughter Passes MBBS Test, Faces Uncertain Future

Born to a family of a poor rickshaw puller in Thakurgaon, Alpana faced difficult times growing up. Braving all odds though, she managed to crack this year’s MBBS admission test.

But the teenager’s struggles are unlikely to end soon as her father, Aftabar Rahman, has expressed his inability to fund her medical education -- literally a luxury for even the middle-class in Bangladesh.

“I want to pursue my dream without putting any pressure on my father, who’s struggling to make both ends meet. Already, he has done a lot for me and my three siblings,” Alpana, a resident of Dharia Belsara village in Baliadangi upazila, Thakurgaon, told UNB.

“Thanks to my father, I could successfully complete my SSC (Secondary School Certificate) and HSC (Higher Secondary Certificate) exams from Kushdangi High School in Baliadangi and Thakurgaon Govt. College, respectively. Now I seek the blessings of the people of this country so that I can fulfill my dream of becoming a doctor,” she added.

Aftabar, her father, pleaded helplessness. “First, I sold a portion of my farmland to bear the admission expenses of my son who got a chance to study at Dhaka University. Later, I had to sell the rest of the land to fund his studies. Now, I have nothing but a homestead,” he said.

His son Munna is a fourth-year student of Dhaka University’s Bangla department. “I have to send him Tk 4,000 a month,” he said.

“My another daughter is studying in Class XII. Alpana has made a penniless father proud. But I am helpless, not in a position to fund her medical education at Mymensingh Medical College from my meagre income,” said Aftabar.

When contacted, Baliadangi Upazila Nirbahi Officer Zubayer Hossain, however, said the local administration will definitely help the family “if we get an application from them.”