Tin roofs, meagre earnings but gnawing hunger for education

Pune: Sunil Dhepe, topper of Poona Night High School and Junior College, with 83.79% in the commerce stream, wants to be a lawyer. Samadhan Gavli, a wastepicker's son, scored 52% in the science stream.
They live in houses made of tin scrap and power shortage is the least of their worries. Studying against all odds, doing odd jobs to support families, these students proved their mettle in the HSC exam.
Dhepe's parents stay in a village near Mahabaleshwar and he took up a job as an office boy for advocate NB Khasnis to support himself. "I want to graduate and then take up a degree in law. I have the full support of my family," he added.
Sanjana Rajendra Paigude and Komal Gaikwad, daughters of a mechanic and a domestic help, were also up against odds, but they passed.
Paigude scored 53% in the commerce stream and wants to graduate. "My teachers at Saraswati Poona Night High School and parents were supportive," she said.
Despite coming from poor families, they were never told not to dream big. Gaikwad, a student of Geetamata High School scored 66% in the commerce stream. "I haven't thought much about the future, but a graduate degree is what I am looking at next," she added.
Gavli's biggest hurdle while preparing for exams was his tin-shed house. He worked part-time for a cab aggregator. The 19-year-old lives with his mother and elder brother. His favourite subject is mathematics and he is very interested in pursuing a career in it. "My father passed away when I was in standard VIII," he said.
Gavli's family now wants him to prepare for the civil services. "My mother and brother are wastepickers, but they were always supportive of my desire to study," he says.
Wasim Shaikh, a fruit vendor's son, has a similar story. As a student of Ideal English School, Shaikh scored 64% in the commerce stream and had to battle odds as his father's income as a street vendor was meagre.
"What my father brought back home was too little so I started working as a delivery boy with an online food-delivery aggregating website," he said. At the age of 20, he started supporting his family with his daily earnings. Accountancy being his favourite subject, Shaikh wants to be a chartered accountant.
Night schools have a special role to play in moulding students from very poor families who have to work for a living during the day and get the time to study only in the evening.
Students include wastepickers, drop-outs, people who work in shops, car drivers, delivery boys and domestic help.