School dropout from Chennai’s Kannagi Nagar clears Class X exams at age 31

S. Velangkanni, a resident of Kannagi Nagar, had to abandon schooling due to family circumstances, but was determined to return to studies as she did not like the job at CMWSSB (Metro water)

Close to two decades after she left formal schooling abruptly, S. Velangkanni took up her textbooks again and completed it.

Recently, she cleared the Class X Board exams. Thirty-one-years-old, Velangkanni is a Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) employee.

She cleared social science paper, the last of the Class X board examination papers she had to appear to complete her SSLC.

“I was supposed to appear for my Class X board examinations in 2007, but my family had to shift from Mylapore to the resettlement colony at Kannagi Nagar and that signalled the end of schooling for me,” recalls Velangkanni, the youngest of four sisters.

An early return to the classroom was dashed in 2010, when her father, a sanitary worker with CMWSSB, died after battling ill health. Being the only bread winner, Velangkanni’s mother was focussed on marrying off the four girls including Velangkanni, which she did. In these circumstances, studies could not enter the picture.

“Later in 2018, on compassionate grounds, I got a job with CMWSSB and it involved field work, which I was not comfortable with. I had to go from door to door for collection and do assessment of drainage lines at homes,” explains Velangkanni, a mother of three now. “To seek a change of role at CMWSSB, I had to have passed SSLC”.

Muthal Thalaimurai Trust, a non-profit working in resettlement colonies in Chennai, came into the picture at the right time. After work, Velangkanni would attend the night classes offered by the Trust at Kannagi Nagar. Based on the advice of Trust members, she sought to take the SSLC exams in batches and she had to clear them within five years.