Daughter of a farmer, here’s how Prathavi Bhat topped the class X exam in school

From traveling 30 km to school and studying under bus shelters for online classes, Prathavi Bhat’s academic journey in class 10 has come with a lot of highs and lows. Daughter of an arceanut farmer from Mattigar village in Sirsi in Uttara Kannada region, Bhat scored 97.6 per cent in her class 10 examination. Currently pursuing PCMC at Creative PU College in Karkala, Bhat switched from state board to CBSE in class 5.

“Switching to class 5 after studying in Kannada medium came with a lot of difficulties. I found it hard to comprehend Hindi and English. However, with the support of my teachers and family I managed to work and improve my skills in both these languages. In fact, I referred to many external reading resources including novels, question banks, etc,” said Bhat who wants to get into IIT. She also added that, “after joining CBSE, I felt competition was high and this is what prompted me to study and perform well in academics.”

Bhat spent almost half of her class 10 with online classes. Residing in a remote location surrounded by mountainous terrain, Bhat found it difficult to adapt to online learning because of poor internet connectivity. “I used to walk to a bus stand which is 1.5km away from my home and study for my online classes. If the bus stand does not work, I would hike to a hilly region to catch the network and sit and study there,” said Bhat who prepared for her Term 1 examinations by attending online classes and secured 99 per cent.

Her father, Seetharam Bhat, said, “She used to travel nearly 30km to school and it would take at least one hour. Despite her weakness in Hindi and English initially, she diligently worked on improving her language skills. Her prompt attitude is a result of what she has achieved today.”