For some people, educating the underprivileged students means everything to them even if it means selling the house. The 77-year-old woman principal, identified as Beula Gabriel, sold her own house to keep her school running so that the young minds would chase their dreams.
Beula Gabriel started St Joseph’s Secondary School in Hyderabad in 1993. Her dream is to provide some quality education to the students. Her dream is fulfilled now as around 300 students from Kindergarten to Class X are studying in her school happily.
The fee structure is minimal; those who can manage to pay can pay and others can study for free. In the last 25 years, the school has unlocked all children’s talents. The children who study in this school come from the families of maids, rickshaw pullers, labourers, watchmen, and others who find it hard to educate their children.
The generous school principal received countless praises from the public for transforming the lives of underprivileged children. Today, her students are doctors, engineers, teachers, computer scientists, financial advisors, nurses and armed force personnel as reported by The Better India. The society needs more school principals like her.
In an interview with The News Minute, Beula said, “My extended family wanted it to be like any other modern school that would extract a huge amount of fees and admits children only from well-to-do families. I opted out of the management because I wanted to start a school where I could bring children from all walks of life – from the richest to the neediest, from highly educated families to first-time school-goers.”
It is well known that most of the schools have an entrance test for admissions, SJSS has a different policy. Beula says, “No student has ever turned away for failing an entrance test. We conduct tests only to assess the potential of students and place them at appropriate levels. In fact, we prioritise students who have been rejected from other schools, whether for academic, physical. or social reasons.”