At an age when most people would consider education a chapter long closed, Bhageerathi Amma opened a schoolbook again. She was 105 when she returned to formal education in 2019, sitting for the Kerala State Literacy Mission’s Class 4 equivalency examination. She scored 75% overall and secured full marks in mathematics, becoming one of the oldest learners in the country to clear such an examination. Her achievement soon travelled far beyond her home in Prakkulam, Kollam, and brought her national recognition.But the story of Bhageerathi Amma was not simply about an elderly woman passing an exam. It was about a childhood interrupted, responsibilities that arrived too early and a desire to learn that survived for nearly a century.
13 Jul 2026 | 13:11
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She had to leave school as a child
According to Deccan Herald, Bhageerathi Amma’s education ended when she was still very young. After her mother died, she had to take responsibility for her younger siblings. Later, she married young and was widowed in her 30s. She then became responsible for raising her six children.For decades, education remained something she had once wanted but could not pursue. That changed when the Kerala State Literacy Mission’s programmes gave her an opportunity to return to learning. At 105, she began studying again.
She scored 100% in mathematics in her Class 4 equivalency exam.
Her age did not make the examination process straightforward. Because of her advanced years and health concerns, she wrote the examination from home rather than sitting in a conventional examination centre. Yet she approached the test with the seriousness of a student much younger than herself. She cleared the fourth-standard equivalency examination with 75% marks and scored 100% in mathematics.
Her achievement caught the Prime Minister’s attention
Bhageerathi Amma’s story soon reached Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who spoke about her during his February 2020 episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’.PM Modi highlighted how she had been forced to discontinue her education as a young girl because of family responsibilities, but had eventually returned to studies at 105. He described her as an inspiration and stressed the importance of keeping the desire to learn alive.For Bhageerathi Amma, however, passing the examination was not the end of her educational journey. She wanted to continue studying. As per the Deccan Herald report, she hoped to clear higher equivalency examinations, including the seventh standard level, and eventually attempt the Class 10 examination.That ambition was perhaps the most striking part of her story. At 105, she was not looking back at what she had missed. She was still thinking about what she could do next.
At 105, she proved it was never too late to learn.
From a student to a symbol of women’s empowerment
In 2020, Bhageerathi Amma was selected for the “Nari Shakti Puraskar.” The award was presented on International Women’s Day. Because of her advanced age and health, Bhageerathi Amma was unable to travel to Delhi and had sought permission for someone else to accept it on her behalf.The recognition placed her story in a larger conversation about women’s education and the barriers that have historically prevented many women from completing their schooling. Her life reflected one of those realities in a particularly stark way. Education had not been abandoned because she lacked interest or ability. It had been interrupted because family responsibilities took priority.Nearly a century later, she reclaimed that unfinished part of her life.
She died at 107, but her story remained unfinished
Bhageerathi Amma died at her home in Kollam in July 2021, aged 107, after age-related health problems. She left behind more than the distinction of being Kerala’s oldest learner. She left behind a reminder that education is not necessarily tied to a particular age, classroom or stage of life.Her journey also offers a different way of looking at women whose ambitions were interrupted by marriage, motherhood, caregiving or circumstances beyond their control. For Bhageerathi Amma, the gap between childhood and old age did not erase the desire to learn. When the opportunity finally came, she took it.She was 105 when she went back to school. She was 105 when she proved that an unfinished dream can still have a second chapter. And perhaps that is what makes her story endure: she did not return to education to prove that age was only a number. She returned because, after all those years, she still wanted to learn.
