Educational Reforms done by Jyotirao Govindrao Phule
- Phule aimed to use education as a tool to transform the power structure of the time.
- In Pune, Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule co-founded the first indigenously administered school for girls in Vishrambag Wada. The school attracted students from all walks of life, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
- This move outraged the upper caste groups, and the apprehension was enough for them to make a move for Phule’s life. Both he and his wife were ostracised. On the other hand, the pair were warmly welcomed by their friend Usman Sheikh at the latter’s home, where the girls’ school functioned.
- The opposition to Phule’s efforts did not make him stop. He opened more schools not only for women but also for others who were oppressed and marginalized by the upper caste societies, and he began more schools for them between 1948 and 1952.
- However, the schools he established were forced to shut down due to the lack of funds from the colonial government due to the Mutiny of 1857.
- In the 1860s, he became involved with the movement for widow re-marriage movement and even set up a home for children born of illicit relationships.
Jyotiba Phule
The mid-nineteenth century saw the social reform movement, which locked its focus on removing and stopping harmful practices such as Child Marriage and Sati. The movement was directed towards empowering women by encouraging them to be educated. Most of these efforts were channelled through organizations such as Brahma Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, and Arya Samaj. However, these social reforms were headed by members of the upper caste; this is where a person like Phule as he belonged to a lower caste and was against the evils caused due to the hegemony asserted by the Brahmins that oppressed those from lower castes, making his efforts extremely integral to the overall narrative.
As the brahmins had a monopoly over education and authority over its distribution, and it was restricted to those from lower castes, one of the primary reasons, according to Phule, kept the lower castes oppressed. Jyotiba Phule truly believed in an egalitarian society where caste identity did not hinder the prospect of one reaping good opportunities.