Watch: For Girls From This Delhi Slum, Education Is Empowerment

When the CBSE Class 12 results were announced, these girls were elated as they had performed well.

From left to right: Preeti Kumari, Baby, Gudiya Yadav and Ankita Yadav.

(Photo: The Quint) 

‘’Only when one person does it will everyone else think that they can also do it. “

Those are the words of an 18-year-old girl, aspiring to be an IAS officer, who hails from the slums of Sarita Vihar, New Delhi. Like her, there many girls from here who dare to dream big. Circumstances have not been kind to them but that has not stopped them.

Meet Preeti, Ankita, Baby and Gudiya, four residents of Sarita Vihar slums who have outdone everyone’s expectations by scoring well in their 12th Board CBSE Examinations.

‘I had to Leave my Studies in Between’

Ankita Yadav recounts the struggles she had to face during preparation for her 12th standard CBSE Exams. Having fallen seriously ill just before the exams, Ankita had to skip school for almost 10-15 days which made her fall back in the portions a lot.

“I have always been interested in studies but some problems came up with my health because of which I had to leave my studies in between.”

Ankita Yadav 

Two Rooms, 9 People; It was too Crowded

While Ankita had issues with her health, Preeti never had a conducive environment to study. She has nine members in her family and only 2 rooms, so it was difficult for her to concentrate. Along with that, she also had to juggle between her responsibilities at home and studies.

“My mother had fallen sick during my exams. So I had to take care of my siblings as well as concentrate on my preparation.”

Preeti Kumari 

‘Koshish School Really Helped us’

There were many problems but an NGO called Koshish School stepped in.

Koshish provides specialised guidance and training to students who are enrolled with government schools. We spoke to founder-director of Koshish Dr Ajjanta Chakravarty.

“Our aim is to make sure that they understand the concepts that lie behind the textbooks. Once they have understood that, they carry it with them for the rest of their lives.”

Dr Ajjanta Chakravarthy, Founder, Koshish School 

Baby and Gudiya explained to us how the school has helped them in their preparation for the 12th exams.

“As compared to our government schools, Koshish has less students because of which the teachers can focus on us properly, answer all our doubts clearly.”

Baby 

“We don’t have enough money to afford private tuition, so Koshish really helped us there.”

Gudiya Yadav 

‘I Want to Buy a Flat for my Father’

Taking on each problem that was thrown at them, Preeti, Baby, Gudiya and Ankita outdid everyone’s expectations and scored well. While Ankita, Baby and Gudiya want to become teachers, Preeti aspires to be an IAS officer.

“I want to get out from this slum area and buy a flat for my father.”

Ankita Yadav 

“The post of an IAS officer is a very respectable post. So I want to a respectable post, as no one from this area has done a government job.”

Preeti Kumari