No money to buy books, Sapna's dream in doldrums

CHANDIGARH: Holding a second-hand book with pages torn from various places, Sapna Kumari, a Class X student, sits down to study with an aim to become a computer engineer. However, going by the condition in which she lives along with her two younger brothers and parents, the goal seems more of a dream that might never come true.
"I am not those students who are very intelligent or average.I have, however, never failed in any subject. If I had resources, I would have definitely been able to perform better," Sapna says.
Sapna's father is a labourer and brings home money only when he manages to secure work. "Many a times the person under whom he works does not pay him salary on time. Other times, he does not feel well and is unable to work."
Her mother works in a factory. "Earlier, my education was free but from last two years studying has become very difficult," she says. Sapna has not been able to pay this month's school fee. The books from which she studies have been borrowed from a neighbour who moved to a higher class.
"There is no money to buy notebooks or textbooks," Sapna says. The uniform she uses is also from her previous class. She goes for tuitions but only at the mercy of her tutor who teaches her even though she is unable to pay her fee (Rs 800) for a month. "My tutor has motivated me and inspired me to become a computer engineer," Sapna says.
Sapna, a student of Government Model High School, Vikas Nagar, lives in a 10x10 room covered by a tin roof on the top floor of a three-storied one marla house in Vikas Nagar. Sapna's family doesn't even have a proper bathroom. It has no roof or door and the walls are low. But the family's condition is such that they cannot even afford this house. "We could stay here only because it is our paternal aunt's house," she says.