Karnataka’s pride: Former child labourer, Raghu, scored 87 per cent in Class 12 exams

Raghu, a former child labourer from Bengaluru, Karnataka, scored 87 per cent in Class 12 examinations.

Bengaluru, May 13: The story of Raghu B is not something you get to hear on a daily basis. Raghu, a native of Bengaluru, was a former child labourer and son of construction labourers.

He fought against all odds to score 519 marks out of 600 (86.5 per cent) in his Class 12 examinations (commerce stream). The results of Class 12 examinations were declared by the Department of Pre-University Education, Karnataka, on Thursday.

Today, Raghu is thankful to the NGO, Sparsha Trust, which rescued him from Bengaluru's Magadi Road, where he used to work as a child labourer, in 2012. Otherwise, Raghu could have never completed his school education. After scoring high marks, Raghu, now, aspires to become a chartered accountant.

"Till Class 11, I attended regular class only for one year," Raghu told Bfirst. "My parents admitted me directly to Class 6 due to my age. But I quit formal education within a year due to the financial constraints. Till 2012, I was a bonded child labourer. Even today, my parents stay in under-construction buildings as we don't have anything. I never dreamt of all these things in my life. My life was all about working in construction sites day and night," he added.

In 2015, he wrote Class 10 examination as an external (private) candidate and scored 64 per cent.

"On Thursday, he achieved an important milestone in his life by scoring 86.5 per cent in Class 12 examinations," Manjunath SP, coordinator, Sparsha Trust, told Bfirst.

"We wanted him to attend high school, but he was denied admission as didn't have formal education. So he appeared for Class 10 examinations as an external candidate. Following his first class marks in Class 10, he got admission in Sheshadripuram College, Yelahanka for Class 11. Now, he has scored great marks. He wants to pursue CA and we will support his education," added Manjunath.

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