Rubab Irani and Gulnar Irani As children, Gulnar Irani and her sister had never the inside of a school – a place that their three brothers, just by the virtue of their gender, could take for granted. Now 36, Gulnar is a teacher to her nieces and nephews along with several young students in the Patil Estate slum settlement in Pune.
Despite being denied the opportunity to get a formal education, Gulnar’s story is an example that one can make a fresh start even in their 30s.
Irani credits her new fortunes to coming across a group of teacher volunteers from the city six years back.
“They would visit the settlement and soon I got hooked to learning, starting with basic alphabet. I soon picked up reading and writing English,” said Irani, who is now an English teacher to young students in her settlement.
The real transformation though, she said, came about three years ago when she took advanced learning under tutors of The Panaah Communities.
“I could read and write, but my confidence grew and I gained deeper knowledge during my sessions with the Panaah team,” said Irani, who cleared Class 10 through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), results of which were announced in January.
Mohammad Shoeb, team leader of The Panaah Community in Pune, said his team was merely trying to build aspirations among people from low- income groups.
“The programme aims at creating a safe learning space and developing leadership qualities among those belonging to low-income groups. These people showcased immense mental strength and started learning,” said Shoeb, a chemical engineer.
The Panaah Community, supported by the Teach for India, JBGVS, Forbes Marshall and Leadership for Equity, is working on educating students across age groups at four of its centres in Pune city. Presently, it is engaging nearly 400 students and runs special modules like Learning Enhancement, Spoken English for parents and children, Super 30 — focused training to clear Class 10 board exams, among others.
Set up in 2018, the NGO is celebrating its first major success through its three students who will now sit for Class 12 examinations.
Rubab Irani, 25, is another student who cleared Class 10 with the help of Panaah. Being the youngest of four siblings, her family could never send her to school. “But I would take Urdu lessons in our settlement. Now, I have acquired knowledge of Hindi, Marathi and English during the last two years,” said Rubab, whose favourite subject is Hindi.
The Irani cousins recall how they were scared of taking the Class 10 exam.
“I was scared of the exam but the results have given me confidence to now prepare for Class 12 exams,” said Gulnar, who engages English classes in her locality after her Namaz every day.
Rubab dreams of becoming a facilitator at local Help Centres, where various government schemes and facilities are provided to the general public.
“I now know how an Aadhaar card is processed and the government schemes for people like me are made available. I will work to create awareness about these beneficiary schemes,” said Rubab, adding that YouTube videos have been immensely helpful for her.
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