NAGPUR: In what could be seen as a befitting tribute to their departed parents, whom they lost to Covid during the deadly second wave last year, and overcoming grief as well as financial challenges, four girl students from Adarsh Vidya Mandir, Gandhibagh branch, scored high marks in the HSC exam.
The school management too pitched in by waiving off all fees and helping them with books and other study material.
Kunika Amesar lost her father, sole earning member in the family, last year to Covid. With her mother being a homemaker and a younger brother still in high school, financial woes for the family had just begun. But Kunika stayed strong and scored a whopping 83.83% in arts stream.
“Initially, it was very difficult to concentrate on studies but I did it anyway,” said Kunika, who preferred not to get into details.
With the sole earning member of the family gone, her mother Pammi had to now step forward. “I have started a small cloth business from home itself. Kunika is now also training to be a beautician and wants to get into fashion designing. It’s tough, but we are positive that things will be on track,” said Pammi.
In a tragic coincidence, Kunika’s collegemates from the same arts stream Pakhi Bandu (84.83%) and Saniya Tofik (73.5%) too lost their father and mother, respectively, during the second wave of the Covid pandemic.
Another student from commerce stream, Rohini Kokate (86.83%) also lost her father to Covid. TOI tried to get in touch with all of them, but either their mobiles were switched off or out of network area.
All four students got major support when the school management decided to stand firmly behind them. Ashnarayan Tiwari, principal of Adarsh Vidya Mandir, said, “It was extremely heartbreaking to learn about the loss these kids faced. Knowing well that all four were academically very good students, the management decided to waive off all fees for them and even provided them with books. Though educational institutes were closed for a long time amid the pandemic, our teachers took extra efforts for these students and the results are the testimony of the girls’ determination to excel.”
