From Child Labour to College: Support Her Future

Pritika, 7 years old, is from the village of Kharadi in Maharashtra, India. She lives with her mother, father and younger sister in a two roomed house made of mud and tin roof. Her father works as a daily laborer and makes around £40 per month.

Both Pratika’s mother and father are illiterate and so were not able to help Pratika in her studies. With little help in her studies from her parents Pratika started falling behind. Her family struggled to afford school materials for her. Pratika had no school bag or note books or stationary. She was teased by other students and didn’t want to attend classes. So she began to miss a lot of school days. Pratika’s mother also began to keep her at home to help with domestic chores.     

The project team became aware of Pratika’s case through her school teacher. The team visited her parents to talk with them about the importance of getting an education for Pratika. They explained that educating girls meant she would be able to get a job just like a boy and take care of them in old age. The team also provided Pratika’s parents with school material for Pratika so she would not be teased in class.   

Now Pratika is attending school regularly and is doing well in her studies. Without the intervention of the project team Pratika probably would have dropped out of education and would be following her mother into early marriage and domestic chores. Thanks to all the project’s supporters for helping Pratika to build a new future for herself.