Avinash Mardi: 19, Employed at Bajaj Finance, Still Studying

Avinash Mardi is from Hendaljuri — a small village where opportunities don't arrive on their own. He spent his entire schooling at SSVM, from primary through Class X, graduating in 2020 with first division. His sister and brother still study there.

The school taught him dancing, drawing, designing, archery, and computers. It also organised an educational trip to Kolkata that taught him communication skills, resume writing, and interview preparation. He visited the Indian Museum. For a boy from a village with limited exposure, it was a window into a world he would soon need to compete in.

Today Avinash is nineteen. He is completing his graduation and works as a computer operator at Bajaj Finance in Jamshedpur — employed, studying, and financially contributing to his family.

"The most valuable lesson I learned here is discipline, which will help me throughout life," he says.

The school that gave him that discipline costs less per student per year than most urban families spend on private tuition.