It’s never too late to learn something new and that is exactly what some of the elderly women are doing in the remote village of Phangane, India.
Aajibaichi Shaala or “grandmothers’ school,” which started just last year on International Women’s Day, offers a unique program to women over the age of 60 teaching basic literacy skills like reading and writing in Marathi.
Students attend school dressed in pink saris and begin class with a prayer followed by their daily lesson.
“So far we can’t read or write very well but still we are still trying and we are really enjoying it,” Gulab Shivaji Kedar, a student at the school, said.
Many of them say they have gained confidence after attending the classes, and it was time they look forward to, especially being able to bond with other women.
“Ever since the school started here we have been really happy, we come and sit together with each other and we enjoy the atmosphere and the company here,” Janabai Daji Kedar, 69, whose children have migrated to the nearby town of Thane, said.
At Aajibaichi, afternoon classes in the one-room school are held six days a week for two hours. The lessons are timed so the women can finish their chores, or their work in the fields, before attending class.
“The grannies are so eager to learn, such good students, that it’s a pleasure to see them make progress,” Dilip Dalal, founder of the Motiram Dalal Charitable Trust, which helped co-found the school, told The Sydney Morning Herald.
According to the 2011 census, India’s literacy rate grew to 74 per cent, but female literacy continued to lag the rate for males by a wide margin.
About 65 per cent of women were found to be literate, compared with 82 per cent of men, according to the 2011 report.
Education experts and researchers have cited outdated attitudes toward women, including a preference for male children over females, and child marriages among the main reasons for the lower female literacy rate.
The school uses teaching aids such as the alphabet painted on tiles, which can be read by students with poor eyesight. Many of the aids are made by the students.
“You can teach children by shouting or even scolding but you cannot do that with the grandmothers,” their 30-year-old teacher, Sheetal Prakash More said.
“You have to teach them over and over with a lot of love and patience. Some grandmothers are hard of hearing and some cannot see properly, so you have to go close to them and teach them again and again loudly.”
She added that she would like to see women in other villages get the same access to education.
The school will be celebrating its first anniversary, March 8, International Women’s Day.
With files by Stephanie Lim
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