New Delhi:
In what is considered as the first of its kind for the University of Delhi, a mother and daughter have received their Ph.D. degree together on the same day. When they say education has no age bar, this 56-year-old mother has to be one of it. On March 15, Mala Datta achieved her dream of receiving a Ph.D. degree 34 years after her college ended along with her 28-year-old daughter, Shreya Mishra who also got her Ph.D. degree the same day.
Mala Datta, who is an Indian Economic Service officer working with the Defence Ministry said that she always wanted to do a Ph.D. after completing her Master’s in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics in 1985 according to HT.
“I had to take a break from work in 2012 when my younger daughter had her class 12 board exams. That was the time when I registered for a Ph.D. (in finance). I then took study leave from the ministry and worked seriously on my completing the Ph.D.,” Datta had told the daily.
Datta and Mishra went to the university on Friday and collected their degrees. “We finally realised our dream and collected our degrees together. Officials there said that we would have made news headlines if we had received the degrees on the day of the convocation. But it doesn’t matter because now my paternal grandparents and my husband are here to share this unique feat,” said the daughter.
Officials at the Delhi University are now stating that this rare achievement would be the first of its kind to see a mother-daughter duo completing their Ph.D. together.
