LUCKNOW, India (AP) — In a country where many girls are still discouraged from going to school, Sushma Verma is having anything but a typical childhood.
The 13-year-old girl from a poor family in north India has enrolled in a master’s degree in microbiology, after her father sold his land to pay for some of his daughter’s tuition in the hope of catapulting her into India’s growing middle class.
Sushma Verma, 13, does her homework as she sits on a staircase in Lucknow, India. Pic: AP.
Verma finished high school at 7 and earned an undergraduate degree at age 13 — milestones she said were possible only with the sacrifices and encouragement of her uneducated and impoverished parents.
“They allowed me to do what I wanted to do,” Verma said in an interview Sunday, speaking her native language of Hindi. “I hope that other parents don’t impose their choices on their children.”
Sushma lives a very modest life with her three younger siblings and her parents — eating, sleeping and studying alongside them in a cramped single-room apartment in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state.
Their only income is her father’s daily wage of up to 200 rupees (less than $3.50) for laboring on construction sites. Their most precious possessions include a study table and a second-hand computer.
It is not a great atmosphere for studying, she admitted. “There are a lot of dreams … All of them cannot be fulfilled.”
But having no television and little else at home has advantages, she said. “There is nothing to do but study.”
Sushma begins her studies next week at Lucknow’s B. R. Ambedkar Central University, though her father is already ferrying her to and from campus each day on his bicycle so she can meet with teachers before classes begin.
Her first choice was to become a doctor, but she cannot take the test to qualify for medical school until she is 18.
“So I opted for the MSc and then I will do a doctorate,” she said.
Sushma — a skinny, poised girl with shoulder-length hair — is not the first high-achiever in her family. Her older brother graduated from high school at 9, and in 2007 became one of India’s youngest computer science graduates at 14.
In another family, Sushma might not have been able to follow him into higher education. Millions of Indian children are still not enrolled in grade school, and many of them are girls whose parents choose to hold them back in favor of advancing their sons. Some from conservative village cultures are expected only to get married, for which their families will go into debt to pay exorbitant dowry payments, even though they are illegal.
For Sushma, her father sold his only pieces of land — 10,000 square feet (930 square meters) in a village in Uttar Pradesh — for the cut-rate price of 25,000 rupees (about $400) to cover some of her school fees.
“There was opposition from my family and friends, but I did not have any option,” said her father, Tej Bahadur Verma.
The rest of Sushma’s school fees will come from a charity that traditionally works in improving rural sewage systems, which gave her a grant of 800,000 rupees (about $12,600).
“The girl is an inspiration for students from elite backgrounds” who are born with everything, said Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak of Sulabh International, who decided to help after seeing a local television program on Sushma. She is also receiving financial aid from well-wishing civilians and other charities.
13-yr-old Indian girl begins microbiology master's
LUCKNOW, India (AP) — In a country where many girls are still discouraged from going to school, Sushma Verma is having anything but a typical childhood.
The 13-year-old girl from a poor family in north India has enrolled in a master's degree in microbiology, after her father sold his land to pay for some of his daughter's tuition in the hope of catapulting her into India's growing middle class.
Verma finished high school at 7 and earned an undergraduate degree at age 13 — milestones she said were possible only with the sacrifices and encouragement of her uneducated and impoverished parents.
"They allowed me to do what I wanted to do," Verma said in an interview Sunday, speaking her native language of Hindi. "I hope that other parents don't impose their choices on their children."
Sushma lives a very modest life with her three younger siblings and her parents — eating, sleeping and studying alongside them in a cramped single-room apartment in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state.
Their only income is her father's daily wage of up to 200 rupees (less than $3.50) for laboring on construction sites. Their most precious possessions include a study table and a second-hand computer.
It is not a great atmosphere for studying, she admitted. "There are a lot of dreams ... All of them cannot be fulfilled."
But having no television and little else at home has advantages, she said. "There is nothing to do but study."
Sushma begins her studies next week at Lucknow's B. R. Ambedkar Central University, though her father is already ferrying her to and from campus each day on his bicycle so she can meet with teachers before classes begin.
Her first choice was to become a doctor, but she cannot take the test to qualify for medical school until she is 18.
"So I opted for the MSc and then I will do a doctorate," she said.
Sushma — a skinny, poised girl with shoulder-length hair — is not the first high-achiever in her family. Her older brother graduated from high school at 9, and in 2007 became one of India's youngest computer science graduates at 14.
In another family, Sushma might not have been able to follow him into higher education. Millions of Indian children are still not enrolled in grade school, and many of them are girls whose parents choose to hold them back in favor of advancing their sons. Some from conservative village cultures are expected only to get married, for which their families will go into debt to pay exorbitant dowry payments, even though they are illegal.
For Sushma, her father sold his only pieces of land — 10,000 square feet (930 square meters) in a village in Uttar Pradesh — for the cut-rate price of 25,000 rupees (about $400) to cover some of her school fees.
"There was opposition from my family and friends, but I did not have any option," said her father, Tej Bahadur Verma.
The rest of Sushma's school fees will come from a charity that traditionally works in improving rural sewage systems, which gave her a grant of 800,000 rupees (about $12,600).
"The girl is an inspiration for students from elite backgrounds" who are born with everything, said Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak of Sulabh International, who decided to help after seeing a local television program on Sushma. She is also receiving financial aid from well-wishing civilians and other charities.
13-Year-Old Girl To Pursue Master's In Microbiology
Sushma Verma of Lucknow is only thirteen, but she will be beginning her Master’s education next week.
Living in a one room-apartment with her three siblings and parents, life for Sushma Verma has been anything but a light breeze. Despite the poverty, Sushma is one of those rare kids who demonstrated the capability and brilliance to complete schooling and pursue higher education a little too early than others. Having completed her high school at the age of 7, Sushma graduated from college recently, at barely 13. And now, she will be pursuing her Master’s of Science in Microbiology at the B.R. Ambedkar Central University of Uttar Pradesh.
Interestingly, the ability of finishing education early has been a trend in the family. Sushma’s elder brother completed schooling when he was 9, and became one of India’s youngest computer engineers at the young age of 14.
Sushma’s father is a daily wager earning a meagre 200 rupees a day. Not deterred by the high cost of education, the family had to sell their land in order to pay Sushma’s tuition.
According to the little wonder, she wishes to become a doctor, but because one cannot enroll for a doctorate program until age 18, Sushma opted for a master’s degree.
“They allowed me to do what I wanted to do.”
In our country – where girls lag behind in receiving education, and where, at a number of places, providing girls any form of education is considered unnecessary and inappropriate - the story of Sushma is a shining beacon of hope. The credit must be given to Sushma’s parents for having the moral sensibility to rise from the social stigma, and let their daughter pursue her dreams. “They allowed me to do what I wanted to do,” said Sushma in an interview.
While part of Sushma’s tuition will be covered by the money the family raised by selling off family-owned lands, the remaining will be funded by a charitable organisation.
City University offers UP prodigy free integrated PG
Sushma Verma receiving the offer letter from BS Abdur Rahman University vice-chancellor J A K Tareen in the city on Wednesday, as her parents and university officials look on. Besides free boarding and lodging, the university also offered her dad a job | EPS
Child prodigy Sushma Verma (13) of Lucknow on Wednesday was offered free education at the BS Abdur Rahman University, Chennai by vice-chancellor J A K Tareen.
She can take up a five-year integrated course in Life Sciences, which comprises MSc and PhD, said Tareen in a communication. She has the options to study Microbiology, Biotechnology, Molecular Biology, Genetics and Biochemistry. Besides free boarding and lodging, her father Tej Bahadur Verma, a daily wage labourer, would be given a job depending on his skills, said Tareen.
Sushma visited the university on Wednesday along with her father and mother Chhaya Devi. After discussions with the Vice Chancellor, she went around the university campus.
“She is the pride of the nation and it is our pride to provide her with the opportunity for higher education,” the V-C said, adding it’s up to her to take the final call.
Daughter of unlettered parents, Sushma passed Class X when she was just seven in 2007. She got a place in the Limca Book of Records for being the youngest student to clear Class X. She passed Class XII at the age of 10 and thereafter enrolled for BSc in Zoology and Botany from CMS Girl’s Degree College, Lucknow.
She completed the course this year securing 66 per cent marks.
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