Saraswati Shishu Mandir
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Vidya Bharati (short for Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan) is the educational wing of
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family ...
(RSS). It runs one of the largest private network of schools in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, operating 12,000 schools with over 3.2 Million students, as of 2016 and has its registered headquarters in
Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
with a functional headquarters in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
and a sub-office in Kurukshetra. In the year 2020, the million lives club selected Vidya Bharati as an official member of
Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...
cohort for its contribution to school education.


History

RSS, under the tutelage of M. S. Golwalkar established its first Gita school at Kurukshetra in 1946. But, the ban on RSS in 1948 put a damper on the spread of the Gita school model. After the ban was lifted, the first Saraswati Shishu Mandir brand school was established in
Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the Rapti river in the Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometers east of the state capital Lucknow. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur dis ...
in 1952, by
Nanaji Deshmukh Chandikadas Amritrao Deshmukh, better known as Nanaji Deshmukh (11 October 1916 – 27 February 2010), was a social reformer and politician from India. He worked in the fields of education, health, and rural self-reliance. He was posthumously aw ...
. The Saraswati Shishu Mandir model was quickly replicated across several locations and as the number of schools increased, there arose the need of a definite management structure. Accordingly, ''Shishu Shiksha Prabandak Samiti'', was set up to coordinate activities between these schools at the state level. Such committees were set up in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
,
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
,
Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
and
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
. In 1977-78, an all-India apex body, ''Vidya Bharati'' was set up to coordinate the activities between these state committees and was headquartered in Delhi. This coincided with the
Bharatiya Jan Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) ( ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the po ...
(political arm of RSS) winning the national elections, as a member of the
Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...
. Incidentally, Vidya Bharati used to have an associated National Academic Council with educationists, which enjoyed the trust of the
National Council of Educational Research and Training The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India which was established in 1961 as a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Registration Act. Its he ...
(NCERT).


Organisation

By the early 1990s, the network had grown to 5,000 schools and by 2003, to about 14,000 schools with 17 lakh (1.7 million) pupils. This expansion was facilitated by the growing demand for education in India and the disaffection with the state school system. As of March 2002, it had 17,396 schools, 22 lakh (2.2 million) students, over 93,000 teachers, 15 teacher training colleges, 12 degree colleges and 7 vocational and training institutions. As of 2019, there were 12,828 formal schools and 11,353 informal schools. In 2019, the formal schools had a total strength of more than 34 lakh (3.4 million) students. Most of the Vidya Bharati schools are affiliated to the
Central Board for Secondary Education The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is a national level board of education in India for public and private schools, controlled and managed by the Government of India. Established in 1929 by a resolution of the government, the Board ...
or their local State Boards. Vidya Bharati-run educational programs were adopted in
Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
as an alternate model of education when
BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...
was in power. In addition to formal schools (which go by a variety of names such as ''Adarsh Vidhya Mandir'', ', ', ', ' etc.), Vidya Bharati also runs ''sanskar kendras'' (cultural schools) and single-teacher schools for cultural education. It controls over 250 intermediate colleges and about 25 institutions of higher education and training colleges.


Presence

It has schools in remote areas of the north-eastern states as well as states like
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
and
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
where RSS does not have much influence. Particular attention is given to underdeveloped regions and regions inhabited by tribal communities. The Vidya Bharati schools are spread all over the country ranging from rural to urban areas from western ghats to north east parts of India. The schools have provided a holistic model of success for students coming from different social, economic and religious backgrounds. Shankardev Shishu Niketan which is a cluster of schools run under Vidya Bharati in north east India has produced some of the young minds coming from minority communities who topped grade 10 and won several
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
essay writing competitions. The chain has over 29 state and regional committees affiliated to it, making it the largest voluntary association in India. Students in schools run by Vidya Bharati come from all religious groups. For instance, in
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
, more than 12,000 Muslim and Christian students study in these schools.


Funding and patronage

Funds for this expansion have been collected through various means, including charities across the world. According to Awaaz, a London-based organisation, a significant portion of the Sewa International earthquake funds for Gujarat have been used to build RSS schools. The network also benefited from favourable allotment of land by
Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) ( ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the po ...
and
BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...
politicians. It was also helped with miscellaneous patronage by the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...
(BJP) whenever it was in power in the states or in the Centre (1999-2004). Nanaji Deshmukh believed that the movement had turned 'materialistic', during the later phases but was not paying enough attention to recruiting high-quality teachers. The schools attract the children of urban and small-town shopkeepers and those of professional and government official families.


Ideology and Objectives

Dinanath Batra Dinanath Batra (also spelled Dina Nath Batra) is the former general secretary of Vidya Bharati, the school network run by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He has also founded the educational activist organisations ''Shiksha Bachao Andola ...
, former General Secretary of Vidya Bharati, said that they were fighting an "ideological battle against Macaulay, Marx and Madrasawadis". In comparison to which Vidya Bharati advocates "Indianisation, nationalisation and spiritualisation" of education. In the areas of study that are peripheral to the core curriculum, like physical education, music and cultural education, the institution worked out its own curriculum.


Cultural education

In addition to the prescribed curriculum, the Vidya Bharati schools teach five extra subjects: ''moral education'', which includes stories of heroes, songs, honesty, and personal hygiene, ''physical education'', which includes learning to wield a stick, martial arts and yoga, ''music'', ''Sanskrit'' and Vedic mathematics. Girls are given ''kanya bharati'' sessions where they discuss the real-world problems especially "women-centric" sensitive issues and learn how to deal with them. They are trained to become strong leaders idolizing Queen of Jhansi Lakshmibai, Sarojini Naidu, and other successful women in various fields like Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams, Kiran Bedi, etc. In the morning assembly, the children are taught to pray and sing songs steeped in sanskrit and the spirit of patriotism. Assemblies and stage performances organized on Hindu festivals also serve to convey the Deshbhakti ideology. The virtual absence of non-Hindu children in the schools leads to a collective sense of Hindu identity. In the words of a Vidya Bharati commentator "dedication to the motherland with a deep Bharatiya spirit inculcates in the child the will to change his character ndadjust his nature and programme so as to fulfill the nation's will and necessity." The schools also use the students as conduits for spreading RSS concept of education.


State level committee

The state-level affiliate committees of Vidya Bharati go by various names, depending on the socio-political situation in each state: *
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
: ''Hindu Shiksha Samiti'' *
Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...
: ''Hindu Shiksha Samiti'' *
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
: ''Sarv Hitkari Shiksha Samiti'' *
Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
: ''Vidya Vikas Samiti'' *
Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...
: ''Bharatiya Shiksha Samiti'' *
Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...
: ''Vananchal Shiksha Samiti'', ''Vidya Vikas Samiti'', ''Shishu Shiksha Vikas Samiti'' *
Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
: ''Shiksha Vikas Samiti'' *
Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...
and
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
: ''Sri Saraswati Vidya Peetham'' *
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
: ''Vivekananda Kendra'' and others *
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
: ''Bharatiya Vidya Niketan'' *
Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
: ''Shishu Shiksha Samiti'' *
Uttrakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...
: Bharatiya Shiksha Samiti *
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
: Bharatiya Shiksha Samiti


See also

*
Akhara Akhara or Akhada ( Sanskrit and Hindi: अखाड़ा, shortened to ''khara'' Hindi: खाड़ा) is an Indian word for a place of practice with facilities for boarding, lodging and training, both in the context of Indian martial artist ...
* Akshaya Patra Foundation * Education in India * Ekal Vidyalaya *
Gurukula A or ( sa, गुरुकुल, gurukul) is a type of education system in ancient India with ('students' or 'disciples') living near or with the guru, in the same house. The guru-shishya tradition is a sacred one in Hinduism and possibly ...
* History of education in the Indian subcontinent *
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family ...
* Swami Lakshamanananda * Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram


References


Other sources

* * * {{Sangh Parivar Educational organisations based in India Sangh Parivar Hindu nationalism 1946 establishments in India Hindu educational institutions