Night school students shine through adversities

MY WORKING hours are from 6 am to 3 pm. After studying at home for two hours,I used to attend the night school from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm.

MY WORKING hours are from 6 am to 3 pm. After studying at home for two hours,I used to attend the night school from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm. I was quite confident of scoring above 70 per cent, says Sagar Pawar (23) who scored 73 per cent in the SSC examination. In mathematics,his favourite subject,he scored 127 out of 150 marks.

The achievement is commendable considering the fact that Sagar had to take a break from studies for five years owing to financial reasons and has been working in a hotel since 2003. The hotel staff encouraged me to finish my studies and enrolled me at Saraswati Mandir Night School,where I have been studying since 2008. My seniors at the hotel have been very supportive as far as my studies is concerned.

Hailing from a small village called Koraj in Kolhapur district,Sagar came to Pune in search of work in 2003 and since then has been working at Hotel Natraj. He joined the hotel as a cleaner and later became a waiter and then a room boy. At present,he is at the ticket-booking counter of the hotel.

As many as 10 students appeared for the SSC examination from Saraswati Mandir Night School,out of which nine have cleared the examination.

While Sagar Subhash Shintre,who is working as an office boy at a construction company scored 53 per cent,Sanket Keshav Bogde,a helper at a printing press,got 55 per cent. Since all the studentsm,who attended the school come from the economically weaker section,they all do some job or the other in the day. Despite all this,most of them have managed to score above 50 per cent, said Janardhan Mangal Vedekar,head,Saraswati Mandir Night School.

Although Sagar is not happy with the marks he scored in science68 out of 150 he has plans to study science as a main subject and later on make a career in computer engineering. This time I did not do well but I will make sure my marks get better by next year, he said.

Sagar has an elder brother and a younger sister. Sagar and his elder brother,who is also working in a city hotel,are the only earning members in the family. When Sagar started working at hotel,he used earn Rs 1300 a month. At present,he is earning Rs 3500 a month.

Other night schools in city

* Poona Night High School,Shukrawar Peth

Students appeared for the exam: 13

Those who cleared: 9

* Education Society Acharya Atre Night School,Rasta Peth

Students appeared for the exam: 16

Those who cleared: 9

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*St Joseph’s Night High School Students appeared for the exam : 18

Those who cleared: 4

* N V Kinkar Night High School,Nana Wada

Students appeared for the exam : 22