New Delhi:

A great-grandmother in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr has fulfilled her dream of being able to read and write. 92-year-old Sameeran walked into the Chawli Primary School with Firdaus – her great-granddaughter-in-law (35) about six months ago and can now read, write, and count.

The school’s principal, Dr Pratibha Sharma, encouraged Sameeran and Firdaus to enroll in the village council school under the Centre’s Nav Bharat Literacy Mission.

Born in the early 1930s, Sameeran said she wanted to study after seeing her children and grandchildren going to school.

“I saw my grandchildren and their children going to school, and I felt like studying with them,” she told NDTV, adding, “Learning has no age limit.”

Reflecting on Sameeran’s journey, Dr Sharma said, “They say when people get old, they want to revisit their childhood. Sameeran felt the same. She came to me asking about a pension. I told her I’d help her, but set a condition. She must come to school and study, I told her, because if she isn’t literate, she won’t be able to write her name on her pension form.”

Bulandshahr’s Basic Education Officer shared the district’s goal of making 21,000 people literate through initiatives like the Nav Bharat Literacy Mission. So far, 9,000 people, including Sameeran, have passed their literacy tests.

India’s literacy rate is around 73 per cent, according to the 2011 census, reported news agency AFP.