Ever since I joined the upper primary school in Pahremau in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli district in 2015, my biggest challenge was to make the parents feel convinced about the need for their daughters to be educated.
There was not even a single female teacher in the school until I had joined and it was a contributing factor in the high dropout rate and low attendance by girls in the school.
When I joined, I went door to door in the village and explained how important education is for girls. That’s why today we have more girls than boys in our school.
The students in our school recently applied for the National Invention Campaign and the National Income and Eligibility-based Scholarship Examination. While the forms were filled, the question remained of how to prepare them because the financial condition of the children’s parents is not good enough to buy separate books for them or arrange for their preparation.
Her father runs a small shop, but when he was diagnosed with cancer, the responsibility of managing the shop fell on Deepanjali.
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I arranged books from my own collection for the children’s preparation, and I assigned separate teams for them, conducting both online and offline classes. From filling out their forms to ensuring they reach the exam center on the day of the exam, I took the responsibility upon myself.
When the results arrived, we felt that our hard work had paid off. Among the children from our school, Aashish Kumar, Ajit Kumar, Aditya Kumar, Siddharth Nirmal, and a girl named Deepanjali Gupta were selected for the National Invention Campaign.
Deepanjali, Ajit, and Aashish were selected for the National Income and Qualification-based Scholarship Scheme as well.
Deepanjali’s story is a bit different among these children. Her father runs a small shop, but when he was diagnosed with cancer, the responsibility of managing the shop fell on Deepanjali. After coming home from school, she would sit at the shop and prepare for exams using the notes I provided.
It was a heartwarming experience to see Deepanjali bringing laurels to the school and earning scholarships. I was happy that my efforts have helped a young girl feel proud and empowered.
