Meet Ms. Larzy Varghese – the founder of St. Mathew’s High School & Junior College, Malwani, and the Aam Aadmi Party Ward President – Ward 49, and a formidable candidate for the BMC Municipal Polls 2022. Ms. Varghese is recognized across Malwani and Ambojwadi for her lifelong contribution to education, as a teacher in Mumbai since 1994, and for her relentless devotion to the service of the poor. Larzy is a recipient of the Mayors Award for the Best Teacher, and has gained recognition from across the spectrum for instituting a school for slum children, and for her activism, seeking to change and improve the education policy of Mumbai. She has been awarded the Literacy Hero Award in 2017, Mayor Award in 2018, Education Icon 2018, Nation Builder award in 2019, Modern Savitri Bhai Phule named by Zee news 24 Taz, International School Award co-ordinator by British Council, Naari Shakti Ko Pranam – Most influential women award in 2019 and MSSA Sports Honour Excellence Award 2019.

Larzy established her school, to address the rising inequalities in access to education in Mumbai. “In our slum, I found that many children are not going to school, and slowly these children are being forced to take up menial jobs to become earning members of family. Malwani, Ambojwadi, and Azminagar have lakhs of Mumbaikars living, deprived of access to basic civic amenities for kilometres on end. The life of our people here is extremely difficult, and our neighbourhoods are subject to pollution, garbage, and a lack of proper infrastructure such as drainage, roads, footpaths or even basic medical facilities.” Diseases are rising, and life expectancy is shortening with each passing generation. Even though there are BMC-run schools and private schools around, the quality of education is extremely low.