Mangal Navle had to drop out of school in 2002. She grew up in Harpalwadi village, in the Karad taluka of Maharashtra's Satara district. The school in her village offered education only till the 8th grade, and the school for higher grades was at a village very far from her's. This, coupled with some family problems made her leave education, and she got married four years later, in 2006.
"I am lucky that my husband supported me in education", she begins. Mangal's husband had also not completed education till 10th grade. He attended night school and then insisted that Mangal should also do the same. However, night school was not a good option for her, and they both began looking for a place that would offer her a chance to get back to education. But there was a problem.
"I was terrified of school", Mangal says with a smile. "In fact, I was scared of my teachers in my previous school. They always used to scold us, and that was etched in my mind. I was also scared of Science and Maths." Hence, despite her husband's support and encouragement, she was not ready to start her studies again. Finally, after a lot of discussions at home, Mangal joined Pratham's Second Chance Program at the Kodoli centre in Satara. This was in 2013, 11 years after quitting school in 2002.
"I was very quiet in class for the first couple of months. I used to remember my primary school and feel scared, but later I started to realise that this was different", Mangal recalls. "The way of teaching was different here. The teachers were accommodative and not selective to a few students like in my previous school. In fact, I began liking Science and Math, the subjects I once hated." She then recalls the many memories associated with the class and the friends she made over there. "There were many young girls in our batch, and we used to get intimidated while talking to them. But these differences vanished once we started learning in groups. We all became good friends", she says.
As our conversation progresses ahead, Mangal tells us about the attachment with her teachers."We were lucky to have these teachers. I remember I had a doubt in a Math sum, and sir explained it more than fifteen times! Hence we all were very emotional on the last day of class, as our association with sir and madam had come to an end."
Mangal passed her 10th-grade examination in 2014. She joined a course in Beauty and completed both the basic and advanced levels of certification. She now takes up beauty assignments and contributes to the family income. In addition to this, she also completed her education till 12th-grade and learned to operate a computer. She attributes this to Pratham's Second Chance program as that was the turning point in her life. "I want to share all this with my 10th-grade classmates, and hence I feel our batch should have a reunion", she smiles as we end the conversation.
"I am lucky that my husband supported me in education", she begins. Mangal's husband had also not completed education till 10th grade. He attended night school and then insisted that Mangal should also do the same. However, night school was not a good option for her, and they both began looking for a place that would offer her a chance to get back to education. But there was a problem.
"I was terrified of school", Mangal says with a smile. "In fact, I was scared of my teachers in my previous school. They always used to scold us, and that was etched in my mind. I was also scared of Science and Maths." Hence, despite her husband's support and encouragement, she was not ready to start her studies again. Finally, after a lot of discussions at home, Mangal joined Pratham's Second Chance Program at the Kodoli centre in Satara. This was in 2013, 11 years after quitting school in 2002.
"I was very quiet in class for the first couple of months. I used to remember my primary school and feel scared, but later I started to realise that this was different", Mangal recalls. "The way of teaching was different here. The teachers were accommodative and not selective to a few students like in my previous school. In fact, I began liking Science and Math, the subjects I once hated." She then recalls the many memories associated with the class and the friends she made over there. "There were many young girls in our batch, and we used to get intimidated while talking to them. But these differences vanished once we started learning in groups. We all became good friends", she says.
As our conversation progresses ahead, Mangal tells us about the attachment with her teachers."We were lucky to have these teachers. I remember I had a doubt in a Math sum, and sir explained it more than fifteen times! Hence we all were very emotional on the last day of class, as our association with sir and madam had come to an end."
Mangal passed her 10th-grade examination in 2014. She joined a course in Beauty and completed both the basic and advanced levels of certification. She now takes up beauty assignments and contributes to the family income. In addition to this, she also completed her education till 12th-grade and learned to operate a computer. She attributes this to Pratham's Second Chance program as that was the turning point in her life. "I want to share all this with my 10th-grade classmates, and hence I feel our batch should have a reunion", she smiles as we end the conversation.
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