Fifty-six-year old Urmila Sharma could not fulfil her dream of becoming a mother but is now cherishing her aspiration of being a literate lady.
Similarly, 39-year old Renu Soni who lost her parents a few years back and remained unmarried as well as devoid of education is studying to get a government job.
Courtesy goes to the Central government’s ‘Saakshar Bharat Mission’ empowering around 28 financially weak women by providing free adult education. Interestingly, none of these women could gain the basic literacy either due to early marriage or family responsibilities.
But, with the initiative of Manikarnika, a social organization deploying two teachers Pramila Mandey and Radha Soni under the Mission at Tikrapara Government Primary School (Girls) these women recently qualified the standard third examination. Most among them have scored above 40 out of 50 marks.
“Under the Saakshar Bharat Programme, adult females are given the basic education. Initially, they are taught for taking up standard three examination for few months and then for standard 5 followed by standard 8 and standard 10. The participation of attending the classes is voluntary,” said teacher Radha Soni.
Meanwhile, Pramila said, “The adult students including housewives and low waged ones performed well in the oral part of the recent held exam but were unable to score well in the written section. Despite the fact, their overall marks are beyond our expectations.”
These students as part of their curriculum are taught Hindi and Mathematics. “Before joining the class we were unable to calculate and write an application. It is vice-versa now. In fact, my children ensure I go through the lessons taught by the teachers every day,” said Rina Bhagto, aged 39 years whose elder daughter is presently in standard twelfth.
Interestingly, with the outstanding performance of the present batch, the number seems to increase. Pramila said, “ladies often visit us to inquire about admission. Since it is not possible to cope up all in one batch, we ask them to contact later.”
