Whether it’s cycling for 12 kilometres to get to school every day or hopping on a special bus from one state to another, female students in India’s rural areas are going to great lengths to get an education and excelling at it.
Roshni Bhadouriya is a grade 10 student from Ajnol village in Bhind district in Madhya Pradesh, one with a total population of 1,200. The 15-year-old has scored 98.5 per cent in her board exams, all the while riding a bicycle for 12 kilometres to attend classes daily.
Her ride was not an easy one, oftentimes Roshni had to withstand harsh weather conditions, like the blazing sun during the summer and rain during monsoon and winter.
However, that did not stop the daughter of a humble farmer from securing the eighth position in the merit list.
According to local media reports, she scored 100 per cent in mathematics and science.
Her father, 36-year-old Purushottam Bhadouriya, told Indian media that although all his children are “good students”, Roshni is the first person in the village to get such academic results.
Talking about the plans he has for her future, he was quoted as saying: “I want to see her get big degrees and work in big firms in big cities.”
Roshni aims to join the Indian Administrative Services after completing her studies.
Twitter user @ShubhraDalakoti shared pictures of Roshni celebrating and wrote: “Roshni Bhadouriya (15), a girl from a Ajnol village in MP's Bhind district has scored 98.5 per cent in the state board Class 10 exams. She used to cycle to school, 12 kilometres away, in Mehgaon town. More power to you girl!”
Tamil Nadu girl scores 95 per cent after special bus arrangement
Over 1,700 kilometres away from Roshni’s home state of Madhya Pradesh, a girl from Tamil Nadu has managed to get 95 per cent in her grade 10 exams, which she attended after the Kerala government arranged a special bus.
Amidst the coronavirus lockdown in India, C. Sridevi who belongs to a tribal settlement within Tamil Nadu’s Anamalai Tiger Reserve region, returned to her settlement, away from Kerala, where she studied.
However, the 16-year-old did not give up on her goal to attend her final exams and the Kerala government helped.
A special bus was arranged for her from the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border to Chalakudy, Thrissur district, where the school is located.
She walked and rode her father’s bike to reach the border, several kilometres away from her home.
"I can hardly believe that I have scored an A-plus grade in my tenth grade examination," Sridevi, who studies at Nayarangadi Model Residential School was quoted as saying.
Sridevi has impressed her family and village residents as often youngsters in her tribe abandon their studies after primary or middle school.
Her village does not have an electricity supply and mobile network coverage. Young girls are married off early in the community, while boys have to leave middle school and go to bigger cities to work.
