Mumbai: Mother clears Class 10 exam with her 16-year-old daughter

A 43-year-old homemaker in Mumbai has managed to clear the Class 10 examination along with her 16-year-old daughter this year.

A 43-year-old homemaker in Mumbai has managed to clear the Class 10 examination along with her 16-year-old daughter this year.

Students appear for their first SSC exam at Maharashtra Vidyalaya in Thane. (Praful Gangurde/HT file)

Sarita Zagade, mother of two girls who appeared for her first ever Secondary School Certificate (Class 10) examination in March, has scored 44% marks. Her daughter Shrutika scored 69%. The results were declared on Monday.

A resident of Wageshwari Nagar in Sewri, Sarita had to drop out of school after Class 4 due to financial constraints.

“I was not able to complete my education. I was in Class 4 when my father died. We were four sisters and one brother. Sisters then got together to earn money to run the household,” she said.

Sarita joined a night school in Class 8 after her husband Vishwanath, who works with the Tax Appellate Tribunal, motivated her to continue education.

“Initially, I was very scared to go back to school after almost 35 years, but my husband motivated me. I thought of giving it a shot and told him I would continue only if I liked it. Within just a few days, I began loving it,” Sarita said.

Sarita’s elder daughter Kshitija also appeared for the Higher Secondary Education (HSC) examination this year and scored 48% marks.

All three of them studied together, juggling between studying and household chores according to their exam schedules. The three of them were assigned different examination centres. “As I was the eldest one in the exam hall, everyone seemed to be looking at me and I realised that they weren’t used to older people in the exam hall,” Sarita said.