New Delhi: Today, September 5, is the Teachers’ Day that honours and recognises the contribution of teachers to the society.
We celebrate this day to mark the birthday of the former President, scholar, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. He was born on September 5, 1888.
Contribution of women in female education
Apart from other fields, women in India have played a key role in raising awareness for education among female folks. Till few decades back, women in India were less exposed to education compared to their male counterparts.
However, some female educationists in the country have greatly contributed to the educational advancement of women and influence millions of others.
Let’s take a look at some of the female educators who changed the course of history for women in India
- Savitribai Phule: The first prominent name in the list of female educators is that of Savitribai Phule, who is credited with starting a girls’ school along with her husband in Maharashtra’s Pune in 1848. Savitribai is often regarded as the first female school teacher in India.
- Fatima Sheikh: She is another woman luminary who worked in the field of women’s education. She worked as an associate of Savitribai Phule and went house to house asking families to send their girls to schools. She taught girls at Pune’s Bhidewada school.
- Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu: The two women are the first women graduates of India during the British colonial period. Kadambini Ganguly (1861-1923) was also India’s first woman doctor. She earned her medical degree in 1886 from Calcutta Medical College.
- Begum Zafar Ali: Apart from being a social activist, Ali (1900-1999) was a prominent educationist. She was the first woman matriculate from Kashmir in 1930. Like Fatima Sheikh, Begum Ali also visited houses to convince people about the benefits of educating girls.
- Durgabai Deshmukh: Apart from taking part in the freedom struggle, Deshmukh also opened schools to give training to women in weaving and sinning. She also started ‘Andhra Mahila Sabha’ to give coaching to girls for Banaras Hindu University’s Matric exam.
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