But for a government scholarship scheme, 16-year-old Nisha Verma, who dreams of becoming a college professor, would have dropped out of school and been married by now. Her parents were not interested in spending money on her education.
A resident of Alai village in Alwar district's Rajgarh tehsil, Nisha availed of the pre-matric scholarship to complete her secondary education with the help of Udaan, a women's empowerment programme. Her father, a goat herder, told her that he would get her married if she failed in her class. Nisha took tuitions using the scholarship money and is at present studying in Class XI at Gyandeep School near her village.
