E-Paper
Municipal staffer scores 81% in Maha class 10 exam
MUMBAI: A 50-year-old municipal worker with the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) scored 80.8% marks in Maharashtra’s secondary school certificate examination, more than 35 years after he left school.
Ashok Dayama, who studied up to class seven, wrote the exam on being encouraged by his children to resume education.
Dayama, whose daughter is a bio-medical engineer and works as a sales executive, while the son has finished class 12, decided to resume his education after he was being denied promotions for not having passed class 10.
“Earlier I worked as a labourer in SWM department and was later promoted as a ‘mukadam’. I now hope for promotion,” he said.
But resuming studies while working wasn’t easy for the Mira Road resident. At 5.30 am, Dayama would board a local train to Dadar where he worked with the solid waste management (SWM) department. After work, at 2pm, he would return home and study before taking another local to reach Modern Night High School in the evening.
He credited his success to the Masoom, an NGO that provides study material to 57 night schools in Mumbai and conducts additional coaching for bright students.