In Flood-Hit Gorakhpur, This Class 11 Student Reaches School by Rowing a Boat

Without resources to buy a smartphone, Sandhya is left with no option but to row a boat to reach class each day.

Class 11 student Sandhya Sahani rows boat to her class every day.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

Insufficient access to education is a huge obstacle in the way of India's development, and the shift to online classes only seems to have made the situation worse.

Such is the story of Sandhya Sahani, a Class 11 student from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, who had to resort to rowing a boat to school daily amid flooding in her area. Her determination to attend school made her take this step when her school reopened amid the floods. Her father is a carpenter, and she belongs to a humble background with not a lot of access to resources like mobile phones or internet that she can use for online classes.

"I couldn't take online classes as I didn't have smartphone. When schools reopened, floods hit the area so I decided to reach school by a boat," she explained in a statement to ANI.

While most people appreciated her undeterred attitude towards the situation, many users online even pointed out that she shouldn't have to struggle so much for a basic right like education. Others even offered to buy her a smartphone.

Sandhya also appealed for an alternative to this situation and said, "I appeal to the CM to get an embankment constructed in my as flood water has entered many houses and families are forced to live on terraces under plastic sheets."