PERAMBALUR: ‘Sweet sixteen’ is what they say. An age of possibilities. For some, it is when dreams begin to take shape and the sky is the limit. For others, it is the age when those very dreams are taken away. At the tender age of 16, while still in Class 10, Priya Natarajan’s education was cut short, and she was forced into marriage. What followed, however, was not the end of her story but the beginning of an extraordinary one.
Today, at 29, Priya is the founder of Avvaiyar IAS Academy, which she established in 2022. The academy provides online coaching for TNPSC and other competitive examinations, but what truly sets it apart is the model on which it operates. Priya offers free coaching to candidates who have lost one or both parents, students raised by a single parent, widows, women abandoned by their husbands, disabled persons, and transgender aspirants. Students from farming families receive a 25% fee concession, while all other candidates pay a nominal fee of Rs 5,000 for coaching that covers multiple competitive examinations.
“I know what it feels like when education is taken away. I have lived through those struggles. Through my academy, I want to prove that circumstances should never decide a person’s future. Education has the power to transform lives, and I want to make it accessible to everyone,” says Priya. The woman who now works in earnest to keep the students in the classroom was once forced to leave it under relentless pressure to marry.
Determined to continue her studies, Priya left her home in Padalur and enrolled in a government-aided school in Perambalur, staying in the hostel to complete Class 11. Having already managed to keep her family from arranging her marriage for over a year, she returned to quietly accept her inescapable fate.
Her in-laws were no more supportive of her education than her parents. With her husband’s support, she pursued her studies through distance education and earned multiple degrees. At the same time, she prepared for TNPSC examinations while working full-time to support herself financially. Her perseverance eventually landed her opportunities in government service. But by then, her aspirations evolved.
Instead of taking up a safe government job, she chose to build an academy to help others overcome the same barriers she faced. The academy began with just 73 students. Over the past four years, it has grown significantly, with more than 8,000 candidates enrolling in various courses. Of them, nearly 3,000 have secured government jobs across different departments through competitive examinations.
A teacher’s greatest reward is seeing her students script success. “Whenever a student calls me to say they have secured a government job, I feel happier than if I had received the appointment myself,” says Priya.
Priya’s passion for bridging societal gaps through education doesn’t end with her coaching academy. In November 2025, after finding the public library in Padalur in a dilapidated condition, she donated two cents of her own land to establish a new public library. She also helped more than 1,000 students register as library members, encouraging a culture of reading in the village. In addition, she has adopted 100 underprivileged school students, bearing the cost of their schooling. Priya also chose to give back her alma mater a donation of Rs 2 lakh for renovation and upgrade.
Born into a farming family, the hardships she endured while growing up are reflected in every effort she now makes to uplift countless lives. Her parents owned two acres of agricultural land. During school holidays, she worked as a farm labourer to supplement the family’s meagre earnings. Despite these struggles and the confining societal norms, she dreamed of pursuing higher education and leading a life of her choosing. To help women in circumstances similar to her own become independent, Priya has distributed 97 sewing machines to widows and the economically disadvantaged since 2020.
S Surya from Padalur is all praise for Priya when she says, “After my husband passed away, I struggled to raise my two children. I had no regular income and approached Priya for help. She first gave me a sewing machine, which allowed me to start tailoring work. As my business grew, she provided me with a second machine. Today, I earn enough to support my children and educate them,” she says.
Priya has earned numerous awards from various organisations in recognition of her contribution towards education, social service and women’s empowerment. Yet, she says, her greatest achievement lies much closer to home.
Today, her parents, who once stopped her education and married her off while she was still in Class 10, encourage families in their village not to marry off girls before they turn 18 and instead support their daughters’ education. “Convincing my family took some time. To see my journey bring about this positive change is my biggest joy. It is more of a mindset thing. They seem to understand that better now,” signs off Priya with a smile.
(Edited by Parveen Ali)