Priya - Chhattisgarh

When Priya thinks of her time in school a few years back, she feels overwhelmed. A bright student, Priya Sonavani was the favourite student of her teacher. Her good grades fetched her lot of praise in school and at home. Priya’s father is the sole breadwinner in the house, and he strived a lot to educate his kids.

During her 8^th Grade, Priya’s would fall ill constantly and would miss school. She had to eventually drop out as she could not keep up with the syllabus. Sitting at home Priya would see her former classmates go to school every day. She felt her future is fade away in front of her eyes. This was when she came across a few mobilizers from Pratham’s Second Chance program. Priya did some research and found that some girls from her neighbourhood passed their 10^th Grade through this program. After speaking to her parents, she enrolled herself in the batch of 2017-18.

Priya would come to class regularly and do her best to keep up with what was taught. She always had this thought nagging in her mind that all her friends have moved to higher classes and she is still pursuing 10^th Grade. But the positive environment in the class filled with enthusiastic students like her and warm and helpful teachers motivated her. She started to enjoy coming to the centre. Priya particularly remembers the Life Skill lectures. Earlier, she had no clue about the subject, but it turned out to be her favourite at the end of the year. It also encouraged her and filled her with confidence. It helped her improve her communication and general outlook to the challenges in life. Priya passed 10^th Grade with a score of 70%. Her success was celebrated at home and in her neighbourhood. Her past anxiety about not being able to keep up with her other friends faded and she now feels proud of her achievements. She can again look forward to bright future.

Priya is one of the 343 candidates who appeared for 10th-grade examination through Pratham's 'Second Chance' Program in Chhattisgarh. Out of those, 216 candidates passed, thus making the state's passing percentage as 63%