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Child prodigy shows the way
Arifa Karim Randhawa has proved that although Pakistani students lack opportunities for acquiring good education, they have potential which is next to none in the world.
A NOTION that has gained widespread currency in Pakistan is that we, as a nation, simply lack the ability to keep abreast of the latest developments in the fields of science and technology. This is why we have failed spectacularly in benefiting from the technological advancements made over the centuries.
This bleak and pessimistic assessment has been dispelled rather marvellously, however, by a nine-year-old Pakistani girl — Arifa Karim Randhawa — who recently stunned all by becoming the world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). So, impressed was Bill Gates, the president of Microsoft Corporation, with the Pakistani girl’s sterling performance that she was invited to the US where besides meeting the richest man in the world she toured the Microsoft campus.
Talking to Sci-tech World the other day, Arifa said she was in the news simply because of her keen interest in computers. Interestingly, Arifa has a rural background and her parents are not computer literate. She is a student of class four in the City School, Faisalabad.
At the age of six she got interested in the school’s computer laboratory, which initially looked like a room full of boxes to her. In time, she became so involved with computers that she forced her father to buy her a PC.
“My father purchased a Pentium-II and initially I started playing games. Then, during the summer vacations last year, I persuaded my parents to let me join the Aptech training centre in Faisalabad. At first my teachers — Sohail Ahmed and Kamran Haneef — did not agree that I should go for professional courses.
“They were of the view that I should first take up the basic courses. But I insisted on getting professional training and ultimately I cleared MCSD.net and MCP in a few months’ time.
“Aptech Faisalabad reported my achievements to Microsoft’s country manager, Javed-ur-Rehman, who got my interview published in the Microsoft News in May,” said Arifa. “A senior member of the Microsoft team, Julia Evans, also interviewed me, after which Soma Segar, vice-chairman of the corporation’s development division, contacted my father and we were invited to the US where we met Bill Gates himself.”
Arifa’s meeting with Mr Gates was, to put it mildly, quite absorbing. At one point during the interview she actually asked him why people her age were not offered jobs by Microsoft.
Mr Gates replied that kids should concentrate on their studies. “Upon this I told him that children use Microsoft products more than adults because they are busy in playing games all the time. They can give good ideas. Mr Gates appreciated my views and promised that he will look into how children could be offered proper encouragement to float ideas during training.”
The second question put by Arifa pertained to the low number of women who worked for Microsoft. Mr Gates replied that women generally didn’t take much interest in information technology. He, however, promised that efforts would be made to attract women to the field.
Arifa said she had two brothers — Sarmed, who is seven, and Dawood, who is three. Before her, she added, no one in her family took interest in computers but her brothers were set to follow in her footsteps. They, in fact, posed a constant threat to her world record.
About her future plans, she said she wanted to earn distinctions in the O’ and A’ Level examinations. She ultimately wanted to become a satellite engineer.
Sohail Ahmed, one of Arifa’s teachers at Aptech, told Sci-tech World that she had an extraordinary brain and an “electrifying” IQ. When she went to the training centre for the first time, the fee was a rather steep Rs34,500. The teachers failed to understand why at such a tender age, and with her primary education, she insisted on spending so much money on training meant for adults.
Initially, she was refused an admission and was advised to revisit the institute with her father. “So she visited the institution again, along with her father, who told us that she had been given a computer only a couple of weeks earlier and she was already lecturing him on how to operate the machine,” recalled Mr Ahmed.
In view of her determination to take professional courses, Arifa was referred to Naghman Javed, the director of the centre, who interviewed her again. Later, considering her calibre, every faculty member recommended that she be granted an admission.
As a special case, an extraordinary training schedule starting at 9am and ending at 4pm was formulated, instead of the routine two-hour programme. However, four months down the road Arifa’s first attempt at passing the MCP examinations proved abortive because due to a lack of experience she came out of the test centre only after one hour instead of the usual three.
Therefore, Arifa was advised to concentrate while taking examinations. In her second attempt too she came out after just two hours, this time after answering all the questions. Consequently, the faculty members at Aptech had no option but to declare her a very generous person.
Meanwhile, Arifa has proved beyond a shadow of doubt that although Pakistani students lack opportunities for acquiring good education, they have potential which is next to none in the world. If adequate efforts are made to harness this potential we can make considerable headway in a very short period of time.
The writer works as a staff reporter for Dawn
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