The Wire, 8 March 2022:

“It was when she moved from Pune to Delhi in 1971 at the age of 11 or so that Rukmini Banerji got her first taste of how conservative schools in the capital back then were.

She easily cleared the entrance tests and interviews at one school in the capital, but when the authorities learnt that her mother was working—as a lecturer at the Lady Shriram College—she was denied admission. The school was of the view that the children of working mothers received no attention at home, after school hours. Her forward-thinking parents scoffed at the absurdity and admitted their daughter to Carmel Convent, a school that had “no such hang-ups” and one they had previous links with from Patna, the town where she spent her early years.

Not only did Banerji shed and break all such conventions, but she has also gone on to chart a course for herself that recently won her the much-coveted Yidan Prize for 2021 (with a cash reward of approximately US$3.9 million), for her work in the field of education. She is the first Asian woman to win the prize since it was first instituted in 2016. The prize is given away to individuals who have made significant contributions to education research and development…”

In this interview with Anjuli Bhargava, our 2021 laureate Dr Rukmini Banerji talks about her childhood, education, work at Pratham, and two things she would do—if she were made the minister for education in India.

Read the full article here.