Women empowerment through education - Path breaking story of Vidya Bharti school in Hapur, UP

As per Census 2011, women in India constitute 48.5% of the total population. The  literacy rate for females is 64.63% against male literacy rate of 80.9% and workforce participation rate at all India level is 25.51% for female against 53.26% for males.

From the above statistics it is quite evident that the disparity among the genders in India is quite uneven even in recent times. With almost half of the population still lagging behind it becomes crucial to empower them so that full potential of  the human resource can be harnessed.

All the schools under Vidya Bharati has made nation building their foremost priority and been involved with social service along with providing quality education. This thought is beautifully reflected in Vidya Bharati school, Shrimati Brahmadevi Saraswati Balika Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Hapur in Uttar pradesh, India, which was established with the intent of empowering women through value based education.

The school was established in 1988 and  was named as Saraswati Balika Vidya Mandir.  Founder, Late Shri Raj Kripal Ji, wanted to build a girl's school as felt that girls in India were deprived of quality education. Since Hapur was his ‘janmbhumi’ (birth place) and ‘karmbhumi’ he chose this district to establish the first girl’s school. Then in the year 1997, the school was renamed as Shrimati Brahmadevi Saraswati Balika Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, which was affiliated to C.B.S.E Board. The school has more than 2400 alumni and 1930 current students.

The school was conceptualized to materialize the ethos of nation-building and Indian culture with the objective of overall development of a girl child. It has a unique system of education called “PANCHMUKHI/SHATHPADI SHIKSHA” which includes six important elements namely moral education, spiritual/Yoga education, physical education, Sanskrit education, music education and vocational education. Synthesis of spiritual and moral values with academic achievements being the key features of the institution.

Shrimati Brahma Saraswati Balika Vidya Mandir is not just only a girls school, but is associated with several social development projects as well. Within its premises a hostel for tribal girls known as IDRF Banwasi Chatrawas was constructed in 2002 under the aegis of ‘Shiksha Bharati’. It started with a total of only 9 tribal girls (4 girls from Assam and 5 girls from Tripura) and presently houses 73 girls from several states such as Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Ladakh etc.

The motive behind the establishment of the hostel was to provide good education to those tribal girls who are alienated from the basic education facilities, along with a safe lodging facility. The girls are provided with free of cost education, lodging and skill training. They are The hostel gets support from India Development Relief Fund (IDRF) which is a US Based NGO.

The success of the initiative reflects through the lives of 105 alumni who have established themselves successfully in different professional fields. The students also have left their mark in the field of sports by securing good positions in several sporting events across India. Shri Harishchand Mittal (Hostel Coordinator), Shri Kuldeep Kasana (Joint Director), Shri Pankaj Sinha (Nagaland Sanghathan Mantri) and President Shrimati Swati Garg are chiefly responsible for the success of the project 

Apart from the hostel, ‘Shiksha Bharati’ runs several projects such as :

• Shishu Vatika - a unique institution providing education along  with the virtues like discipline, honesty, patriotism and courage to children from before conception to 5 years of age

• Shri Madhav College ( B.Ed college) - established in 2005 by Shiksha Bharti the college, provides education based on moral values of Vidya Bharati and Adarsh Shikshak Samaj. This college consists of 350 students.

• Herbal Garden and Gaushala - Giving a different angle to the medium of education,  Shrimati Brahma Saraswati Balika Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Hapur believes in Ayurveda and Gau Vigyaan. It lays great stress on  herbal education and breeding of Indian cows. The herbal garden also comprises of Navgrah Vatika, Nakshtra Vatika, Vaastu Vatika, Meditation centre and acupressure path where one can meditate and walk in a green, clean and very healthy surroundings. 

• Village Development Program or Gram Vikas Yojna - Shiksha Bharati has adopted five neighboring villages under the rural development planning in order to help people gain access to suitable education and employment opportunities,ensuring health and social harmony and to turn them into ideal villages.

Shrimati Brahma Saraswati Balika Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Hapur is nation building institution in its truest sense and is considered as an ‘Adarsh Vidyalay’.

If you are interested to help in the nation building process and donate for development of Vidya Bharati schools, you can email us at info@vidyabharatialumni.org or donate online at : https://www.vidyabharatialumni.org/donation