New chapter in life: 74-year-old Thankamma begins B.Com classes

Life turned a struggle after her husband abandoned her, leaving her to bring up her two children

Thankamma Kunjappan, 74, never gave a second thought about pursuing her education again after failing in Class 8 twice, at a school at Idakkoli in Ramapuram panchayat in Kottayam, in the 1960s.

She later got married and shifted to Elanji in Koothattukulam. Life turned a struggle after her husband abandoned her, leaving her to bring up her two children. For Ms. Kunjappan, a beneficiary of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the decision to return to education was driven more by necessity rather than desire.

On being told that Class 10 was the necessary qualification to assume the post of ‘mate’ (a supervisor of sorts) under the MGNREGS, she joined the Class 10 equivalent course of the Literacy Mission in her neighbourhood in 2018. Despite clearing Class X with 74% marks, she was denied the ‘mate’ post as she had by then exceeded the age limit of 60.

“But the respect and the reception I received for studying at such advanced age proved a motivation to study further,” said Ms. Kunjappan. After a brief gap, she joined the higher secondary equivalent course in Humanities in 2022 and cleared the exam with 78% marks.

That was when the dream of graduating took shape. Ajith Shaji, a finance professional in her neighbourhood, took up her case with a friend at VISAT Engineering College, Elanji.

The authorities at the VISAT Group of Institutions offered to admit her for B.Com Honours programme at VISAT Arts and Science College affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University. The college authorities waived the entire fee, which comes to around ₹1.60 lakh for the four-year course and offered free conveyance.

“I wanted to do B.A. Malayalam and was initially reluctant to do B.Com, not just because the medium of instruction was English. But the college authorities told me that I could write the exams in Malayalam and also offered to give me the course content in Malayalam,” said Ms. Kunjappan.

“The university portal did not have provision for the admission of candidates aged above 60 years. We contacted the University to make special provision for enrolling her,” said Shaji Augustine Aattupurathu, public relations officer of VISAT Group of Institutions.

Ms. Kunjappan turned out to be an instant hit with her classmates, all of them young enough to be her grandchildren, when she joined the class in full college uniform on September 6. While excited, she remains equally concerned since attending regular class comes at the cost of her livelihood, and hopes that some help will be forthcoming.

Published - September 19, 2024 08:34 am IST