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Covid-19 force star student to drop out
With the nationwide lockdown shuttering the wholesale shop her father Pradeep Kumar Kashyap worked in, the family had no money to pay her school fees of Rs 500 a month. In May, her name was struck off the school academic rolls.
In March, Nimisha Kashyap was ecstatic. She was stuck at home due to the Covid-19-induced nationwide lockdown but based on her stellar academic record, she was promoted from Class 6 to 7. Her school, Raja Harish Chand Bal Niketan in Lucknow, was forced to cancel annual examinations in line with government directives, and decided to advance students to the next class.
Kashyap 13, was an outstanding student who had topped her Class 6 examinations. She was eager to start her studies.
But by April, her happiness had turned to despair. With the nationwide lockdown shuttering the wholesale shop her father Pradeep Kumar Kashyap worked in, the family had no money to pay her school fees of Rs 500 a month. In May, her name was struck off the school academic rolls.
“All the excitement of buying new books for class 7 evaporated. I had to sit at home and turn the pages of old Class 6 books every day,” said Kashyap, a resident of Raja Bazar in old Lucknow.
The Kashyaps live in a one-room apartment in a cramped neighbourhood. The financial crunch has left them with no money to repair their television since January. Pradeep’s wholesale cloth shop has slashed his monthly salary from Rs 12,000 to Rs 8,000. “It was all very difficult to pay fees. I will get Nimisha enrolled next year,” said Pradeep.
Kashyap now spends most of her day at home. “After a few hours of study, I play Ludo and other games with the neighbourhood children in the evening when they are free from their online classes and homework,” she added.
Her mother Soni and elder sister Deepanshi, an undergraduate student, try to keep her engaged by assigning her tasks from old text books. “We feel really bad for her. My husband’s meagre income made it difficult for us to pay the school fees. Hopefully, at her age, dropping a year of school will not make much of a difference in her life. We are hoping everything will be normal from the next year,” her mother said.
Kashyap said more than studies, she misses sharing a classroom with her friends. “All my friends are now in Class 7. Next year, when I go to school, I will have to make new friends all over again,” she rued. Another thing she hopes to get back to is a game of badminton with her best friend Palak.
Pradeep said the family agonized about the decision to make her drop out of school but realised that it was not possible to manage household expenses and pay school fees at the same time. “I had to look after other needs of the family, too. In the next few months, things should become normal and I will again enrol her in school,” he said.
Kashyap wants to get a government job in the future, and work with a nationalised bank. “I hope she can still realise her goal,” said Pradeep.
