School – a Distant Dream

Quick to offer help, spontaneous to take any sort of menial work at her home and a proud Pratham Open School of Education student- Anita, Tilak Nagar Center. She vividly has images of her parents in her mind now. Her life from then on has taken unexpected turns from the time both her parents left her alone to face the world.

Nothing comes for free and this was proved in her case. Her relatives were her support system but she had to compensate this doing some work for them. She was forced into being a household maid at a tender age – five years old. Apart from this she was also asked baby sit her relatives’ son and the work seemed never ending. If she rejected doing something then the cane would do the talking. The fear made her runaway from her relatives forever.

She was found on a railway platform by Amaan Vedica – an NGO. She journeyed so far with the help of them. They have been by her side from the age of seven.  

Her caretaker in Aman Vedica says. “She has always been a quite girl who never rejects any sort of work given to her. She gets involved completely until the work is not done.” She also adds, “Everybody is assigned some sort of work, but when it comes to Anita she is involved in just doing some kind of work all the time.” After repeated counselling sessions by both the Pratham staff and her teachers in Aman Vedica she gave in and started attending the Pratham Open School of Education classes.

As Anita had such disturbing childhood she was not ready to take up education like other children when she joined Aman Vedica. Also with time she was not eligible to attend the regular school as she was over –age.  Then they came along the Pratham Open School of Education which has given her an opportunity to be back on track.

Anita says, “I can read, write and understand whatever that is being taught now. I wish to get through all my exams and will then think of what I want to do next. I also like the feeling of going to school which I never imagined for myself.”

Her caretaker smiles on the annual day celebrations at the center and says,” we never expected her to change so drastically, she is so confident and open to suggestions. What a remarkable difference Pratham Open School of Education has made in her life.”