When Muhammad Shafi, 17, a resident of Layyah, decided he wanted to study commerce, he did not have money for a college. So he took the intermediate examinations as a private candidate.
When the Multan board announced intermediate examination results on Monday, Shafi said he waited with fingers crossed.
Shafi came second in the commerce group in Dera Ghazi Khan division with 920 marks.
He told The Express Tribune, that he had been working for a daily wage of Rs150 to Rs180. He said he started working four years ago when his father was paralysed after an accident.
For Shafi, attending the prize distribution ceremony meant losing a day’s wage.
“But I came because I was told I would get a Rs15,000 cash prize,” he said.
Shafi says he hoped to work in a government department and to end corruption.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2013.