A Sisterhood of Teachers

“Acharya Devo Bhava” meaning “Teacher is akin to God” is an ancient Sanskrit adage.

This belief has been deeply rooted among the minds of the Indian people since the beginning of time. And this is certainly reflected in the number of people, particularly women, who take to this profession in India. In Rajasthan, we see this for ourselves among the girls whose education has been sponsored by scholarships through Sambhali Trust.

The teaching bug caught sisters Pooja, Samta, and Sonu Sharma in 2007 when Sambhali first arrived in their village of Setrawa. (Sonu and Samta are pictured above.) Oldest sister Pooja had just graduated from the village government school and was offered her first job as a teacher in Sambhali’s Primary Education Center the very next year. She taught there and at the Sambhali Empowerment Center for 12 years. She only recently got married at the age of 27 and hopes to continue to teach even after marriage. Both Samta and Sonu have been receiving educational scholarships from Sambhali since 2008.

Middle sister Samta began teaching at Sambhali’s Setrawa Centers early this year. She completed her bachelor’s degree, a teaching degree, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in history to be able to teach that subject. She says that her favorite thing about teaching is knowing that her students have learned something from her. She sees this every time she asks a question and all the kids clamor to answer it. She loves to see them feel a sense of pride as she rewards them with praise when they answer correctly.

The youngest sister Sonu is following in Samta’s footsteps, just a step behind as she will now apply to a master’s program in history. She hopes to continue to receive a Sambhali educational scholarship for a master’s degree so she can also be a teacher.

Though all the three sisters’ hearts are in teaching, youngest sister Sonu pragmatically says that it was also a logical choice given their personal financial conditions as their widowed mother had no way of paying for an engineering or medical education. However, this was not her only consideration when she started on the educational scholarship journey. Sonu also frankly admits that the perception of working women in the state of Rajasthan and the safety and respectability of the professions open to them shaped much of the sisters’ choices. She claims that villagers and future in-laws might not look upon professions like policework and other so-called risky jobs favorably. So, to enable her to continue working in the future outside of Sambhali and even after marriage, she felt teaching was the secure option. She loves to teach students of all ages, especially the older adults, finding their questions unexpected and interesting.

Samta teaching in Setrawa PEC

As the sisters expand on their many reasonings, it is easy to see why teaching was the compelling choice. Setrawa, a small village in Rajasthan, is two hours away from the neighboring city of Jodhpur by bus. Setrawa itself does not have a college, so girls must travel to Jodhpur to attend classes daily or stay at a Sambhali boarding home in Jodhpur. While this is a wonderful option for some, other girls or their families are not comfortable with their daughters being so far away. The alternative was distance education through a university in Jodhpur, which meant travelling to Jodhpur to take their exams only a few times a year, which was ideal. However, this required the girls to learn and absorb the subject matter by themselves through self-study. As this not being an easy option for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects that also required laboratory work, social science was the natural choice for many girls.

Another practical consideration for many Indian women wishing to work after marriage is children. With the bigger chunk of housework and child rearing falling to them, it is practical for them to have daily and yearly vacation schedules that match that of their children. In joint families, women also take care of their aging in-laws and parents, so being at home in the evenings is expected. Societal pressures and community expectations are even higher in the rural areas like Setrawa where additional support is not available. Practical, safe and so-called respectable jobs like teaching, working at the bank or at the post office offer the best chance of being able to continue to earn an income.

While it may be a logical and beloved choice, the path to becoming a teacher has certainly not been an easy one for the sisters. Samta was required to travel almost daily to Jodhpur during parts of her teacher training. The colleges she and Sonu have been enrolled in are not set up for distance learning so they must rely on notes from teachers or other students for the in-class lectures they miss. Still, these sisters believe in the power of education, and they have persevered and thrived.

Whether through going to boarding homes in Jodhpur or receiving scholarships while staying at home, Sambhali Trust has been a sanctuary for girls from Setrawa desiring an education since 2007. And it is heartening to see many of the girls of Sambhali getting a teacher’s education and even teaching at its centers these days. These young women have futures as teachers in government and private schools, with the goal of teaching many generations to come. In time, with teachers like the Sharma sisters and changes in people’s attitudes and availability of other opportunities in places like Setrawa, we hope to see women take flight in all professions. And with more funding, we hope to continue to touch the lives of many more Rajasthani women by being a part of the educational revolution!