Kerala Teen Fought School System and Changed Policy at 13, Now She's Reshaping Global Construction

At just thirteen, while most students focused on homework and playground politics, Devika Unni Vandana was already rewriting the rulebook. In a classroom where talent was judged by academic scores alone, she spotted injustice and refused to let it pass. A classmate gifted in art was denied the right to compete in school events because his grades didn’t meet the teacher’s expectations. But Devika saw something deeper: a broken system that defined worth by numbers, not passion. So she did what no one expected. She created a movement.

She formed the Student Talent Organization, rallying academically underperforming but highly skilled students who had been sidelined by outdated policies. With nothing but handwritten petitions and raw courage, Devika took their cause to school authorities. Her bold representation argued for a student’s right to be seen for more than their test scores. Teachers pushed back hard. One branded her campaign as “needless sympathy.” But she refused to back down. This wasn’t about rebellion. It was about reformation. Her efforts shook the institution to its core and forced it to reconsider its narrow definition of talent.

The policy changed. The student got to compete. And for the first time in years, the school began winning district-level art and youth festival competitions. Devika’s grassroots leadership didn’t just help one student. It unlocked doors for generations to come. It was a cultural reset. A class monitor became a catalyst for systemic reform. Her defiance didn’t just earn her applause. It earned her power. She was elected school leader for two consecutive years, becoming the voice of students from all backgrounds, especially those crushed by academic elitism.

But her personal life mirrored none of that success. At home, poverty raged like a storm. Her family relocated to a relative’s house after their own collapsed, only to be insulted daily. Her relatives taunted her for choosing education over work and blamed her father for “wasting money on a girl’s schooling.” The mental toll shattered her father’s spirit. But it forged Devika into iron. Every morning, she sold newspapers before school. Every evening, she mapped out a new future built not on survival but purpose. Her school activism wasn’t a distraction. It was training for the battlefield that lay ahead.

Her teenage years laid the foundation for a life driven by justice, resilience and advocacy. She didn’t grow up dreaming of luxury. She dreamt of equal opportunity, fair treatment and a world where someone like her brother could thrive without shame. In 2019, she started her career as a Site Engineer. Her early experiences would later shape her decisions in college, in courtrooms and on construction sites. What began as a stand against unfair school rules became a lifetime commitment to challenging any system that denied someone their worth.

Today, Devika is not just an engineer. She’s a disruptor in the global construction space. After completing her civil engineering degree under extreme personal pressure, In 2022, she moved to the UK to pursue a master’s in construction project management. Her research is grounded in her own experiences of how delays, corruption and poor leadership destroy lives, not just structures. She balanced her studies with a part-time job and later took on a Client Service Administrator role at ECP. From sparking educational reform at thirteen to challenging industry inefficiencies today, Devika’s fight has never really changed. She’s still the girl who speaks up when it’s easier to stay quiet. Only now, the world is starting to listen.