12-year-old Girl Takes on the Role of Running a School

Many of you may remember the story of Babar Ali – the 16-year-old boy who was running a school in his family’s backyard. Now, meet 12-year-old Bharti Kumari who is sharing the knowledge she receives from school by teaching other children.

As an infant, Bharti Kumari was abandoned at a railway station in Bihar, one of India’s poorest states. Now, at the age of 12, she has become the head teacher at a school in Kusumbhara, her adopted village. Every morning and evening, under the shade of a mango tree, she teaches Hindi, English and Maths to 50 village children who would otherwise receive no education. In between, she attends a state school in Akhodhi Gola, a two-mile walk away. Dressed proudly in her school uniform, she passes on the knowledge gleaned from her lessons to the village children, aged between four and 10, in her own class. “I have a long day. My school is from 10am to 3pm and I study late,” she said. “This is what I love doing. I enjoy teaching children their ABCs as well as the Hindi alphabets.”
Kusumbhara is a poverty-stricken village 87 miles from Patna, the state capital. Most families are Dalits, India’s lowest social group, and they live in fear of Maoist insurgents waging a terror campaign against the security forces. In the past four months 30 schools and community buildings have been blown up by the rebels. “How will we get educated if we’re scared?” asked Bharti, appealing to the government to build a proper school in the village.