India is a country where people in the rural areas are still not very open to encouraging a girl to pursue higher education. More than 35 per cent of girls are discouraged from going to school, let alone college.However, Sushma Verma’s story is entirely different.
At 7 years old, an age when most of us were just beginning to learn our multiplication tables, Sushma was graduating from high school. At 13, while we were dipping our toes into high school life, she was getting her Master’s Degree in Microbiology from Lucknow University. And now, at 15, Verma has just been accepted to Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) for her PhD — making her the youngest PhD student in India.
Daughter of a daily wage labourer and an illiterate mother, she became youngest postgraduate student from the university in June.
“My young age has been a major constraint in pursuing higher education,” Verma said in an interview with The Times of India. “Getting permission to attend high school and seeking a seat for the medicals posed big problems.”
“A person should always be judged by his or her talent and potential, not by age,” she continued. “I desperately wanted to become a doctor but now I have to wait till I turn 17 — it’s a huge disappointment for me.”
Sushma is not the only one to have achieved great strides in the field of education in her family, her elder brother Shailendra also became the youngest computer science graduate at the age of 14.
Sushma and Shailendra are truly an inspiration to all of us.