A mother and her son share the same classroom space as students in a West Bengal school.

Mother Anima Das, 35, and her son Palash are students of Class 11 in Basirhat Dandirhaat Nagendra Kumar Higher Secondary school in Kolkata's neighbouring North 24-Parganas district.

Their subjects are also common as both have chosen Sanskrit, history, philosophy and political science, school head master Dipak Ranjan Mondal told sources.

According to Palash, his mother had quit studies when she was in Class 9 after she got got married.

Encouraged by her in-laws, Anima took admission in Class 9 at Pipha Rabindra Open School in 2005 and passed her Madhyamik (secondary) exam from there.

'I study at night after finishing all my domestic chores. My son helps me out with the lessons as he takes private tuition,' said Anima, who is also an Anganwadi worker.

'My sister Purnima, who studies in the same class as well, also helps me a lot,' she said.

Mondal was all praise for Anima's enthusiasm as a student.

'She is very friendly in the classroom. We admitted her in our school considering her willingness to study at this age,' Mondal said.