66-year-old fails in Class X for 45th time

It was 45th time unlucky for 66-year-old Jabbar Husen from an Uttar Pradesh village who has failed his Class 10 exams again this year -- but the never-say-die grocer is determined to try and try again till he succeeds in clearing the exam.

Husen, who owns a grocery store in Fatehpur district's Bindki village, about 200 km from here, could not clear three of the six papers in Class 10. Results of the Class 10 Uttar Pradesh board were announced Tuesday.

"He (Husen), who is probably the oldest candidate enrolled with the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad, failed to clear English, Science and Elementary Mathematics papers," District Inspector of Schools (DIOS) Prakash Maurya told IANS.

"As per the new grading pattern, any candidate who fails to clear more than two subjects is not eligible for a re-examination. So Jabbar will have to appear in the board exams next year to pass Class 10. However, his determination to pass the exams without any unfair means has impressed all of us," he said.

Successive failures have not deterred Husen as he hopes to clear the Class 10 boards some day.

"I will continue to appear for the Class 10 boards exams till I clear them. It's my dream...I am quite sure I would be able to accomplish it someday with my hard work," Husen told reporters.

"Every year I learn something from my mistake and ensure they are not repeated in the next exams. This year too I realised some of my mistakes due to which I could not pass my exams. But I am confident about turning my dream into reality," he said.