A Dubai-based Indian couple has hit the headlines after
all their three daughters received the country’s top award for academic
performance. And if that wasn’t enough, the family also took home the
Hamdan Distinguished Family Award.
Diabetologist Dr Shabana Muzzamil, who recently received
the Hamdan Distinguished Family Award with her neo-natologist husband Dr
Muzzamil Hafeez and their daughters Irfaanah, 17, Maryam, 12 and Hurairah, 9,
from Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of
Finance, said: “We feel blessed to be the first Indian family to receive the
prestigious honour.”
The 16th cycle of the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award
for Distinguished Academic Performance was presented at a gala event in Dubai
on April 22.
Dr Shabana, who hails from Bengaluru, said her three
girls, all studying in GEMS’ Our Own English High School in Al Warqa, have done
the family proud. “While Irfaanah and Hurairah won the award in 2013 (15th
cycle), Maryam bagged it this year for distinguished academic performance.
Hurairah, who studies in Grade 5, has also won this year’s Award for Excellence
in the Sharjah Education Zone.”
The distinctions are perhaps no coincidence. The
Muzzamils, who were practicing medicine in Saudi Arabia earlier, said they made
a conscious decision to move to Dubai in 2008 to give their daughters a better
education.
“This was the best decision we have ever taken. The UAE
provides great opportunities to develop talent and pursue dreams,” said Dr
Hafeez.
He said his daughters are not just consistent toppers in
academics, a pre-requisite for the Hamdan award, but also excel in
extra-curricular activities like public speaking, debating, dancing, singing
and art and craft.
Thomas Mathew, Principal of Our Own English High School,
Dubai, said: “These super achieving children are undoubtedly being reared in a
very nourishing family environment.
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