“I never had time to think about education. We were so busy on the farm trying to earn a living,” said Leela Rawat from a village in Ajmer district of Rajasthan.

Leela has never been to school. With her mother’s deteriorating health, the responsibility of the farm had to be taken up by the sisters and their father. Pratham mobilizers visited her parents to talk about enrolling Leela for 10^th Grade through Second Chance program. While the mobilizers struggled to convince the parents to allow their daughter to study, Leela was going through a dilemma. She was nervous about studying, considering she has never held a book in her life. She was worried about the stress her parents will have to go through considering the society they live in.

Once she was enrolled in the program, she realized that she can resolve most of her issues with sheer courage. Leela speaks of her time in the class fondly. Her teachers helped her catch up with language and Math. She feels that there is a positive change in her speaking and writing skills. The foundation course prepared her for the main course effectively. She says that it is because of her teachers that she could move ahead in life but the teachers believe on each of their students and feel that it is the person who has the strength in her and we are mere facilitators.

People from my neighborhood would taunt me and my parents saying that I am old enough to get married and what is the point of studying at all. Any girl stepping out of the house on her own is looked down upon in her village. But Leela is changing this attitude by paying no heed to the comments.

When asked about her plans for the future, Leela beamed with excitement and said, “I want to do my bit for the society. I want to start off by working as an ‘ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) Sahyogini’ and then find my way from there. Passing 10^th Grade provided a significant boost to my confidence. I believe that I can dream big.”

“My grandfather did not want me to go to school. He said girls need not study. But my brother would go to school and I started to borrow his books and read when no one was watching. My brother helped me a lot.” said 19-year old Sandhya.

Sandhya lives in a small village in Ajmer district of Rajasthan with her parents, siblings and grandparents. She was one of the many ‘never been to school’ girls enrolled in Pratham’s Second Chance program. It is not uncommon in many households of India to keep the girl child out of school. These girls are expected to stay ‘safe’ at home and help with household chores. Education is said to be ‘unnecessary’ for them. Very few girls in her dhaani (hamlet) go to school. They help their parents on the farm every day. This made the situation quite grim for her.

“So how did you convince your grandfather?” I inquired. “Some people from Pratham came home and spoke to my parents and grandfather. That’s how I was enrolled in the batch of 2015-16,” answered Sandhya.

Her grandfather was very unhappy with the thought of sending her to complete 10^th Grade. Sandhya and her parents were unsure of how she will cope with the syllabus. Although Sandhya could recognize a few words, her parents were skeptical. Her father was instrumental in ensuring that she is enrolled in spite of everything. Her family would visit the Second Chance centre every other week to keep a check on her. With time they learned to trust their daughter and her capabilities. Meanwhile, Sandhya was working hard to make up for all the lost time. With no formal schooling, each day meant something new for her. The examination was another ballgame altogether but Pratham’s technique of planning tests every month helped her adjust to the thought of an exam.

This change in her opened her to several possibilities. She passed 10^th Grade with 67.55%. “My grandfather was so happy. He distributed sweets on the day of my results,” said Sandhya with amusement.

Sandhya has enrolled for 12^th Grade and is pursuing a Diploma in basics of computer. She now works as a teacher in a government school. “I am a part of the school committee that mobilizes children who are out of school. We help them enroll in our school. I look after the mid-day meal program in my school as well,” she added. She employs Pratham’s activity-based learning method in her classroom. “I use mind maps to teach kids and it works wonders,” she exclaimed.

Sandhya feels that staying at home for all those years instilled a sense of fear in her and many other girls in her village. She would not step out of home alone. But now she travels in and around her village and is currently looking for a teaching position in a school in Jaipur city of Rajasthan. She enjoys studying and plans to support herself with her own income.