Group of Andhra BTech students have to double up as cleaners to fund education

They could touch great heights as tech wizard children someday. But currently, a group of girl students has to go down to the low - as janitors, cleaning toilets of their own engineering school in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur.

Cleaning toilets is one of the chores Vani (name changed) must perform before attending class at 9am, while the rest are watering plants or helping out in the college kitchen. Why? These part-time jobs allow Vani to pay for the hostel in the engineering college - something her daily wager parents cannot afford. The 21-year-old is in her third year of BTech in AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning).

As it happens, Vani's college has about a dozen such girl students - pursuing various branches of engineering - who have adopted similar works to pursue their dreams of further studies.

And they would only be delighted to do the same. "I am well aware of the financial situation at home. I don't find anything wrong with taking up any job that could bring relief to them," said Vani in an interview to TOI, suggesting that she did not want to be an encumbrance to her parents.

A local of Guntur's Bellamvaripalem, Vani's mother makes Rs 700 to Rs 800 a day, and her father another Rs 250 at the maximum. She started working during BTech when her parents borrowed money to pay her hostel fee.

Part-time work to gain confidence: Principal

Vani's hostel fees are Rs 37,500 per year. "I did not want them (her parents) to borrow once again. That's why I went to the management and enquired if I could earn some money. I never felt shy to clean toilets, as we are the ones who use them. It felt like keeping our house tidy," Vani said, indicating that she works early morning before going to college or working at night after returning from classes.

Her fellow classmate Sravya also maintains the same schedule. "We work in the morning for a week and in the evenings for another week. It takes two to three hours to complete our work. From cleaning rooms, restrooms, and gardening, we do all the work along with other staff," explained the final-year AI student.

With these responsibilities, though, this group is also the guardians who wake up other students early to study and share food among other duties.

Although these students admit to some disagreements with the seniors regarding how they abuse their authority now and then (when they demand that they go to class or switch off the lights), they say it is worth it for the advantages.

"My family was already in debt of Rs 3 lakh. So, I knew that I had to do these jobs to survive. Whenever I faced some resistance, I used to approach authorities for help," said Aarti, a first-year engineering student from Kurnool. Raised by a single parent, she said the family was welcoming to whatever support came their way since seven children are completely dependent on their mother since their father passed away when she was in class 9.

The college principal came forward and said that students were being encouraged to take part-time work so that they could be sure that they could sustain themselves. "We receive approximately 200 students annually who are interested in working part-time, but we consider only 8 to 10 who are genuine. They are the ones who are largely in need and possess a strong mindset," the principal further said.