Education is the only instrument that could help the destitute enter mainstream society and make a happy living, believes Bathula Venu Babu and Nakka Jayaraju who just passed intermediate. On their journey to reach the goal, they now work in a textile showroom as part-time salesmen to earn a few pennies hoping that could add to a sum they need to continue education.
The duo is among the many inmates of city’s Navajeevan Bala Bhavan, an NGO home for orphans and semi-orphans, who have scored top marks in the recently released intermediate public examination results.
Venu and Jayaraju who went to Chaitanya junior college (not corporate) in Nandigama haven’t just passed the examination in distinction but set a record by securing highest ever marks in the mandal and neighbouring mandals.
As part of realising his dream of becoming a chartered accountant Venu, who lost his parents in an accident took MEC stream and secured 949 marks while Jayaraju aiming at civil services secured 941 marks in CEC. Venu is ready to take the challenge of becoming a chartered accountant.
Asked what was one important aspect that helped them secure top marks, Venu says, “attentiveness to the lessons taught in the classroom is crucial.” “Understanding basic concepts and revision of the subject whenever required helps better presentation in the exam,” Jayaraju adds. “That’s is the reason they were able to perform well though they had no rigorous training given in corporate colleges,” coordinator T. Kamal Kumar says.
After his parents, both agriculture workers, died in an accident more than five years ago Venu, a native of Bapulapadu mandal in Krishna district found solace in the NGO home. Jayaraju, a native of Vizianagaram was admitted to the NGO by his father, a coolie after the mother died in 2010. The twenty other inmates preparing for college share similar stories of being abandoned by families under various circumstances.
“We believe in education that has helped a majority of our inmates develop in the past 28 years. We are proud of the students who secured top marks. Most of them are inspired by the success of their seniors and show interest in studies. They have the desire to settle in life,” says the director of NGO Fr. Y. Pradeep. So far over 49,000 children have been resuced and raised by our homes in the region and most of them now have a decent life, Fr. Pradeep says.
(EOM)
