Anubhuti extends heartfelt congratulations to all these youth living in tent communities, adivasi pada, in interior villages – who have passed 10th and 12th Board exams this year. What they have done is historical – many being NT-DNT and Adivasi, they live in tent/grass/mud houses. They are not only first generation learners, but with no background of education at home, overcoming not only severe poverty but generational under-confidence regarding studies, bias against them at every step, being in a minority and quite on their own. Their names and photos have been put up on boards in their areas – to break the stereotype that only students with high marks are appreciable! Because for nomadic youth, appearing for board exams is a feat bigger than students from privileged backgrounds scoring high marks. This has helped a lot to boost the confidence of these youth, who were perhaps feeling low only because of the marks they had managed. Also, their names on the boards included their mother’s names – this caused a lot of discussion among the community, opening everyone’s eyes to the contribution of women in their children’s development.
Some of these youth did not even have books and had learnt very little at school when they started coming to Anubhuti’s in-community study centres around February/March. We only provided a few weeks of remedial teaching and workshops to boost morale, but their determination, quick grasping, and courage to give their all in the exams is something to learn from. We are also appreciative of the few youth who could not pass the exam this time; the odds were stacked very high against them, and they are gathering their courage to attempt the exams once more.