“My name is Purni Devi,” said 45-year-old Purni Devi, proudly introducing herself in English. Devi has been a regular student of the evening school in Bairgachhi village of Bihar’s Purnia district for the past six months. During the day, she works as an agricultural labourer. “I could not even identify the letters when I joined. Now I can tell my name and also sign in English,” Purni told Gaon Connection, talking about her progress. Her children attend regular school.
Many women belonging to economically and socially backward communities of this large village in Baisi block of Purnia, about 450 kilometres from the state capital Patna, have similar stories to tell. These women of Bairgachhi, lately, finish all their domestic chores by sunset and rush to attend the evening school. The village has 414 families and a population of around 2,300 people.
Shashi Ranjan, an engineer by profession and the founder of the evening school, began the initiative to educate the underprivileged women of Bairgachhi who could not study in their childhood. Women of all ages happily attend this evening school, new brides, and elderly women alike.
“We focus on women who have not been able to access education. Some people, however, are still unaware of our school,” he told Gaon Connection.
“These women used to work in the fields all day long and did not bother about schooling. In the evening, they would gather in groups to talk. Instead of that, we tried to put them together under the setting of the evening school,” Ranjan said. He proudly informed that women from every age group attend the evening school, even women of 60 and 80 years of age. “Moreover, girls from 22 to 28 years of age, who are married, also come to study with us,” he added.
The evening school is like a new dawn in the lives of these poor rural women. Before joining the school, they used to be busy working for wages or busy with domestic chores. Now, they have taken up reading books and are learning to write.
Tetri Devi is another evening school attendee. She also works on the fields to earn a living and provides for her children’s formal education. After she’s done with a day’s work, Tetri makes time to study “At first, I did not know anything at all, but gradually, everything is changing. We are also briefed on health, in addition to studies,” she told Gaon Connection.
Interestingly, Gudiya, former Bihar Chief Minister Bhola Paswan Shastri’s daughter-in-law, is also a teacher at this evening school. “Women come here to try to read, which they could not so far, and learn more about the world around them,” said Gudiya. “The very concept of the evening school is — work during the day and learn to read in the evening,” she added.
Various experts are invited to the school and health camps are organised for community welfare.
“Here, we don’t just work on education,” Gudiya told Gaon Connection. “We also talk about health issues because the women who come here to study also bring their little children along. We also organise special classes every Sunday,” she said.
As per 2011 Census, Bihar is one of the poorest performing states in terms of literacy with 63.82 per cent literacy rate. Purnia, Bihar’s twelfth most populous district, is also the one with the poorest literacy rate of 52.49 per cent, within the state. Bairgachhi fares no better with a literacy rate of just 56.87 per cent, which is lower than the state average.
The female literacy rate standing at 51.70 per cent is even more alarming. This means nearly half of Bairgachhi women are illiterate, that is, they cannot even read or write their own names.
In this situation, the Bairgachhi evening school is a beacon of hope in the otherwise grim literacy scenario of Bihar, specifically Purnia, with the poor literacy rate and a society skewed against women. A small but firm step has been taken to educate women, despite all odds. As they say – “If you educate a woman, you educate a nation.”
