While popular history often highlights a few towering figures, India’s educational reform was equally shaped by lesser-known visionaries who championed access, dignity, and innovation in learning.
As India approaches its 79th Independence Day, the spotlight often falls on political heroes and landmark movements. But the evolution of our education system, which is a cornerstone of our democratic and developmental journey, owes itself just as much to thinkers, reformers, and educators who never quite made it to the textbooks they helped shape.
While names like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dr S Radhakrishnan, and Rabindranath Tagore are etched into collective memory, there exists a constellation of lesser-known visionaries who quietly revolutionised Indian education, building bridges between tradition and modernity, between the elite and the marginalised.
Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939)
A high court lawyer turned educationist stands as perhaps the most influential figure in introducing modern early childhood education to India.
His search led him to the works of Maria Montessori. Inspired by her philosophy that children possess innate potential and that the teacher's role is to nurture, not discipline, he founded the Bal Mandir kindergarten in Bhavnagar in 1920.
Later, with Nanabhai Bhatt and Harbhai Trivedi, he established the Shree Dakshinamurti Vinay Mandir, blending Montessori methods with Indian cultural elements like music, storytelling, and outdoor play.
Tarabai Modak (1892–1973)
Following a similar path was Tarabai Modak, often called the “Montessori Mother of India.” A graduate from the University of Mumbai and the first Indian principal of Barten College of Education, Rajkot.
In 1926, the two established the Nutan Bal Shikshan Sangh to promote pre-primary schooling and teacher training. But her most remarkable contribution came through the Gram Bal Shiksha Kendra at Bordi and later in Kosbad, where she worked with tribal and rural children.
She made preschool education low-cost, locally relevant, and hands-on. Children learned by weeding fields, collecting natural objects, and engaging in songs, crafts, and stories.
Tarabai rejected segregation in education, insisting that Harijan (Dalit) and upper-caste children learn together. When faced with resistance, she and her colleague Anutai Wagh designed the Anganwadi model, open, community-based preschools tailored to tribal life.
Today, Anganwadis across India owe their roots to this experiment.
Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880–1932)
At a time when women were discouraged from stepping outside the household, Begum Rokeya founded the Sakhawat Memorial Girls' School in Kolkata in 1911, to educate Muslim girls, which was a radical act for her time.
She started with just five students, walking door to door to persuade conservative Muslim families to educate their daughters. She firmly believed that education was the key to emancipation. According to her, the main reason why women are held back was because of their ignorance.
Her struggle wasn’t limited to the classroom. Rokeya also ran literacy and hygiene workshops for slum women, and founded the Muslim Women’s Association in 1916 to promote education and employment.
She wrote fiery critiques of purdah and male dominance, most notably in her visionary work, Sultana’s Dream. Her legacy continues in Bangladesh, where December 9 is observed as Rokeya Day.
Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861-1946)
While his political stature is well acknowledged, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya’s contributions to education deserve deeper recognition. Founder of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1916, Malaviya imagined an institution that combined modern science with Indian philosophy and culture. As BHU’s vice chancellor for nearly two decades, he shaped it into Asia’s largest residential university.
Malaviya also founded The Leader newspaper and played a key role in the launch of Hindustan Dainik.
Kandukuri Veeresalingam (1848–1919)
In 19th-century Andhra Pradesh, Kandukuri Veeresalingam championed women’s education and widow remarriage against fierce societal opposition.
Inspired by the Brahmo Samaj movement, he established Hithakarini School in 1908, and was instrumental in promoting girl’s education through his journal Viveka Vardhini.
Despite threats and social exclusion, Veeresalingam successfully organised the region’s first widow remarriage in 1881. He also founded Andhra’s first Brahmo Mandir, built a home for widows, and wrote the first Telugu novel, Rajasekhara Charitramu. His work was not only educational, it was revolutionary in its impact on gender and social equality.
Sarala Devi Chaudhurani (1872–1945)
Sarala Devi Chaudhurani, a niece of Rabindranath Tagore, combined nationalism, feminism, and education reform. In 1910, she founded Bharat Stree Mahamandal, India’s first national-level women’s organisation to promote female education.
With chapters across India from Lahore to Hyderabad, Sarala Devi’s movement reached women across class and caste lines.
She used her literary and political platform to advocate for self-reliance and empowerment through learning, especially at a time when women's voices were often dismissed or suppressed.
