A 92-year-old grandmother from India has learned to read and write after attending school for the first time, captivating local media and officials with her story.
Salima Khan, born in 1931 and married at the age of 14, two years before the end of British colonial rule in India, always harboured a lifelong dream of literacy. This aspiration was elusive during her younger years, as there was no school in her village when she was a child.
Six months ago, she embarked on this educational journey, studying alongside students eight decades her junior, with her grandson’s husband accompanying her to classes.
The school’s headteacher, Pratibha Sharma, revealed that there was initial hesitancy about teaching Khan. However, her evident passion for learning won them over. “We simply couldn’t turn her away,” Sharma told the Times of India.
Since Salima Khan’s educational foray, 25 other women from her village have been inspired to join literacy classes.