Two Days After Losing Her Husband, Aarti Sat for Grade 10

At 28, Aarti was just two days away from sitting for her Grade 10 board examinations when her 27-year-old husband passed away due to health complications. A mother of three, she had returned to education after nearly a decade away and spent months preparing for the exams with his encouragement.

Shattered by his sudden passing, Aarti felt she could not appear. But reaching that examination centre had already taken her through years of interrupted education, family responsibilities and, finally, a second chance to learn.

Her story had begun much earlier.

Growing up in a remote village in Rajasthan’s Banswara district, Aarti enjoyed school and wanted to continue studying. When she was 14, her father passed away, leaving the family under severe financial pressure. Her mother began working at a local mill to earn, while Aarti stepped in at home, taking on household work and caring for her younger brother.

As the demands at home grew, continuing school became increasingly difficult. At around 15, while studying in Grade 8, Aarti dropped out.

A few years later, at around 19, she married and moved into a joint family. She eventually became a mother to three children, and her days filled with childcare, cooking and managing the household. As the years passed, returning to education seemed increasingly distant, but Aarti had never stopped wanting to complete what she had left behind.

Finding her way back through the Pragati Program

Nearly a decade after Aarti dropped out, a Prerak (Community facilitator) from Educate Girls met her and introduced her to the second-chance Pragati Program.

The Pragati Program supports adolescent girls and young women aged 15–29 who have dropped out of education to work towards completing Grade 10. Through village based learning camps, learners who spend years away from education receive academic support and guidance to return to learning and prepare for their examinations.

For Aarti, the opportunity felt like a chance to complete something she had been forced to leave behind as a child.

Some members of her family initially questioned why a married woman and mother of three needed to study again. The Educate Girls team continued speaking with the family about Aarti’s aspiration to complete her education and what it could make possible for her future.

Her husband supported her decision, and gradually, her in-laws did too.

Aarti enrolled in Grade 10 through the Rajasthan State Open School and began attending the Pragati Learning Camp in her own village. After years of wondering whether she would ever study again, Aarti was finally continuing the education that circumstances had interrupted.

A choice to continue

Returning to learning required Aarti to make space for study within an already full day. She cared for her three children and managed the household while attending the camp and preparing for her examinations.

After such a long gap, subjects she had last studied as a teenager did not come easily. With regular support from her Prerak and the Educate Girls field team, she kept practising. Gradually, lessons became clearer and Aarti began to believe that completing Grade 10 was within reach.

Her husband remained one of her strongest supporters throughout this time.

Then, two days before the board examinations, he passed away.

Aarti initially decided she would not appear that year. Her in-laws were grieving too, but they reminded her how much her husband had wanted her to complete her education. Her mother, Prerak and the Educate Girls team stayed beside her as she considered what to do.

Ultimately, the choice remained Aarti’s. She decided to sit for her examinations.

Months later, the result arrived: Aarti had passed Grade 10 in the first division with 67%.

Looking ahead

Today, Aarti is preparing to complete Grade 12. She hopes to become an Anganwadi worker, earn an independent income and create a more secure future for herself and her three children.

“If women do not lose heart and continue their education, they can change the direction of their lives,” Aarti says. “Education makes us self-reliant and teaches us to live with dignity.”

Today, as Aarti prepares for Grade 12, her three children are growing up watching their mother study, sit for examinations and continue towards a future she once had to put aside. Perhaps that is what makes her second chance especially powerful: the education Aarti returned to for herself is also shaping what her children will grow up believing is possible.