Gaining education, 35 women plan to uplift their communities

By SiliconIndia   |   Tuesday, 24 June, 2014
Jhadol (Rajasthan), How do you help your backward community living in remote, virtually inaccessible villages to progress if most of them are uneducated? Simple, finish your own studies, train as teachers and then use your knowledge to spread the cause in your home - as these nearly three dozen women are doing.

The group of 35 young women from a cluster of villages in Rajasthan's Udaipur district is perhaps the first in their families who ever went to school, and are now preparing to give something back to their communities by getting trained as primary and high school teachers.

Many of these young women - in the age group of 16-24 years - have parents who work as agricultural labourers and who are more or less illiterate.

"My parents work as labourers and our family income is very less. I want to become a teacher and educate people from my community," Prem Kumari, a Class 12 passout, told IANS in Jhadol, around 40 km from Udaipur.

Prem Kumari has cleared the Basic School Training Certificate (BSTC) examination and, if selected, she can apply for a teacher's post in a primary school.

"I also want to study for a bachelor's degree, and later go for B Ed (the degree required for teachers in higher education)," she said.

As colleges in the only nearby city of Udaipur are far away, and because of problems in travelling, many of the young women prefer to study in the only two degree colleges in their area.

A college in Phalasia village offers a bachelor's degree in arts, while another in Jhadol also offers Bachelor of Education (B Ed) degree.

During their vacations, some of these young women work in chocolate factories in Udaipur and nearby urban areas to fund their education.

Source:IANS
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