GUWAHATI, June 8 - About seven years ago, members of Avas Foundation, a city-based NGO, found Sneha Deb when she was selling vegetables with her mother in the city. At that time, her family was facing extreme economic hardship as Sneha�s father, only breadwinner, had met with an untimely death.
The NGO, which works with the National Child Labour Project, immediately made arrangements to continue her education and it yielded results.
Sneha, a resident of the Bamunimaidan slum area, passed the High School Leaving (HSLC) examination this year in the first division.
She sat for the examination from New Guwahati Railway Colony High School and scored letters marks in Hindi. During a conversation with�The Assam Tribune, Sneha said she would pursue her higher education in Commerce stream and she wants to be a teacher.�
Rabin Poddar, another former child labourer from the same locality, also passed the HSLC examination in the first division from the same school. His brother Prabin Poddar secured the second division in the examination.
�In our locality, it is not easy for a student to continue with his or her study. But, both my brothers worked hard and passed the examination. Our father is a daily wage labourer. Hopefully, very soon, we would be able to give him some relief,� Rabi Poddar, the elder brother of the duo, told�The Assam Tribune. This time, Rabi also appeared for the Higher Secondary final examination.
�For slum children, pursuing education is a huge challenge. Most of the parents are not interested in their children�s education only because of their poor financial condition. Rather, they want to engage their kids in different earning activities. In such a scenario, such results are very encouraging for us,� Kasturi Das, coordinator of Avas Foundation, said.�
She stated that their NGO aims to strengthen these youths so that they could find a good job in the future. This time, altogether five children, who were earlier rescued by the NGO, sat for the examination. Among them, two children secured the first division and three secured the second division.�
Moreover, several students from different slum areas of the city also secured the first division in the HSLC exam.
Binita Mazumder, a resident of the Bhaskar Nagar slum area, scored 68 per cent marks in the examination. She appeared for the examination from New Guwahati Adarsha High School at Bamunimaidan.
�I am very grateful to World Vision India, which helped me a lot to pursue my study. I will pursue my higher education in the Arts stream and want to do a government job,� she said.�
Anjana Kumari Yadav from the Babu Basti slum area scored 62 per cent marks in the examination from Bidya Mandir High School, Narengi. She wants to pursue higher education in the Science stream and wants to be a civil servant.�
Pratima Barman, a resident of the Kushal Nagar slum area, who scored 60 per cent marks in the examination from New Guwahati Railway Colony High School, said, �World Vision India had helped me a lot. Now, I will pursue my higher education in commerce stream and I want to be an advocate.�
