BENGALURU: With lots of grit and a ‘never give up’ attitude, children from across the state beat all odds and excelled in this year’s SSLC examinations. While all attention is usually focused on the toppers, a lot of other students, have inspirational stories of their own.
Yellamma is one such student. This visually challenged student of the Samarthanam High School in Kannada medium, did not let anything deter her from the goal of scoring good marks in the exams. As a result, this child of daily wage workers, managed to score 83.5% in the exams.
“The parents are from North Karnataka and do not even have a place to stay. They just live wherever they are working. Yellamma was given free education here and she is a brilliant student,” said the Head Master of the Samarthanam High School.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Yellamma said, “I wanted to make my parents proud. I will give them the luxuries which they could not give me.” Yellamma, like any other daughter, wants her parents to have a home to stay in.
Another visually impaired student from the school, Chandrakala, was able to secure 75% in Kannada medium. Her parents work in a garment factory. Describing her schedule, Chandra Kala said that students were provided with software which helped them listen to their notes.
Across the city, there are several stories that have the power to inspire. 17-year-old Krishnaveni was born to poor parents in a tiny village of Tamil Nadu. She would stay with her grandparents who sent her to Bengaluru when she turned seven. She arrived in the city without knowing a word of Kannada. On
Tuesday, she was overjoyed to learn that she had scored 71% in the SSLC exams, in Kannada medium.
“My parents did not have money to take care of me and they left me with my grandparents. When I was in class 4, my grandparents sent me to Bengaluru and I was given shelter at SPARSHA trust. Till today, it is my home where I got all the love and care that I missed out on in childhood,” she said.
She wants to study medicine and become an oncologist after her pre-university exams. “I want to become a doctor because my grandfather, who took care of me for a few years, had suffered from lung cancer,” she said.
Archana, another 17-year-old, also stays at the Sparsha trust and has managed to score 72% . She went through a tough childhood. “Only my mother was working as my father was an alcoholic. It became difficult for my mother to manage my education as well as the family. So she called the child helpline and was told about SPARSHA,” Archana said.