“I am really glad that I took this School Leaving Certificate (SLC) Board Exam”, was the first thing Anita said to us when we invited her to our office to congratulate her for passing the board exam. “This time last year I did not even imagine that I will be able to continue my study and take this exam”, she continues. She was in her brand new dress and it looked to us she was glowing with happiness. The situation was complete opposite when we visited her last October.
Anita discussing her future plans
Her mother had passed away when she was little, and adding to her misery, her father also passed last year. She and her elder brother were the only members of the family left in the house. They were desperate and there were no one to support them. When our selection committee were choosing scholars for 2013, they wanted to help finish Grade 10 and then help her take the School Leaving Certificate (SLC Examinations). When asked if she wanted to take the SLC Board exam, she said that she would be unable to go for the exam because she had no hope of passing it. Because of recent tragedies, she was still grieving and had stopped going to school and missed many of her classes. Her self-confidence was very low and she had no desire to continue her schooling.
When we first met Anita, she wasn’t sure whether she would continue school
After a few visits from our Nepal team and after much persuasion she decided to come back to classes, but still she did not seem very interested in her classes. We knew that without additional help, she would not be able to do much, so we decided to put her in intensive preparatory classes for the SLC Board Exam. The cost of the classes were covered by the foundation. After she began to go for these intensive classes, she slowly became more and more interested and she began to work hard again. After taking the classes, she went for the exams, however, she was not successful in her first attempt as she failed the Mathematics portion of the exams. After her examination results came out, we were worried that she would be discouraged and not want to pursue it. We went to her house to make sure that she would retake the Mathematics exam. To our delight, she wasn’t giving up, and she decided to give the exams another try. After re-taking the exam, the results came out, and she had passed. She had surprised everyone by passing, including herself.
Anita in her new school uniform for class 11
Although our foundation was setup to provide support all the way up to the SLC Board exams, we feel that we need to do something to further the educational aspirations of scholars like Anita who has little or no means of support. We were able to help Anita thanks to our partnership with one of the local government schools. Pharping Higher Secondary School agreed to waive her tuition fee for two year (Class 11 and 12) while our foundation will bear the cost of uniform, textbook, and other associated costs. Seeing how Anita was able to overcome such challenges to develop a desire for learning has inspired us to want to do more.
Anita sharing contact numbers of teachers of her new school
“I will study hard and pass 11th and 12th grade and then I will continue my Bachelor Level right here in Sikharapur Community College after two years”, shared Anita as we sat down for a meeting. This coming from a girl who had lost her hope for High School Exam and is now planning for university level education is the kind of success story that makes what we do feel so meaningful.
Well-done Anita and the best of luck! We will help you in any way we can. We hope to be able to share more success stories like hers.
Nabin Aryal
Program Manager, Rukmini Foundation
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