Mother, daughter appear for secondary exams in Bengal

Bharati, who works at a child education centre along with her married daughter Sanchita, is sitting for the examinations at Sunitibala Sadar Girls High School as an external candidate.

"Bharati is appearing for the madhyamik (secondary) exams along with her daughter as external candidate. It is an example of empowerment of women. She took out time to study daily after taking care of her work and fulfilling her responsibilities at home," the school's headmistress Aparna Bagchi said.

According to Aparna, Bharati was married off in 1990, when she was in class ten, and was forced to leave school. And even though she got busy with her family duties during the following years, she never gave up her dream of clearing the school exams.

"When her daughter Sanchita, who also got married two years ago, decided to sit for the exam, Bharati too made up her mind to do the same.

"As far as I know, Sanchita helped her mother a lot in preparing for the exams. She used to take tuitions and also taught her mother. Bharati's husband too was very understanding and supportive of her efforts," said Aparna.