Phule’s legacy comes full circle: Why his native village traded a memorial for a high-tech CBSE school

After efforts by villagers Navnath Hole, Ramesh Newase, Jayvant Hole, and Bharti Raut, 12 acres of pastureland in the gram panchayat’s possession were provided for construction.

Fiat India contributed Rs 21 crore as CSR funds for the construction, while the Zilla Parishad provided Rs 15 crore. As the Zilla Parishad lacked the capacity and experience to run a CBSE school, a search for credible organisations was launched, and non-profit Christel House India emerged as the final choice. Huli and other contractors worked pro bono on the project.

Finally, the Jyoti-Savitri Zilla Parishad School was inaugurated by the Chief Minister in April 2026. A total of 260 students were admitted from kindergarten and classes 1 and 2 in the initial year. All children from Khanavdi were admitted, and Christel House India conducted household surveys in more than 400 houses in neighbouring villages to select eligible underprivileged students.

Parents overjoyed

Khanavdi resident Sumit Jathar and his wife base themselves in Pune for five days a week due to work. Their son was previously admitted to a private school in the city under the RTE 25 per cent quota. But starting this year, he will attend the new Jyoti-Savitri school.

Jathar said, “My son moving back from Pune to the village to get a good education is a big deal. He is staying with my parents. I am also thinking about moving back so that I can spend more time with him. This has only been possible because we live in Mahatma Phule’s village.”

Akshay Hole, another resident working as a gym instructor in Pune, had admitted his son to a private school in Keshav Nagar in kindergarten for Rs 10,000-15,000 per year. Now his son has been admitted to the Jyoti-Savitri school in class 1.

“Every parent wishes that their child gets a good education in English. If it happens through a Zilla Parishad school, it is always welcome. Education through boards like CBSE is the best and we wanted that,” Hole remarked.

Contrasts exposed

Equipped with modern labs and infrastructure, like a robotics lab with 3D printers and drones, the new Jyoti-Savitri school exposes the dismal state of education in regular Zilla Parishad schools.

Khanavdi’s original Zilla Parishad school, located hardly 50 metres away from the new one, has only 22 students enrolled. No one is moving back from Pune city to enrol their children in this school. It offers Marathi education only up to class 4 and is now slated to be shut down as students will be admitted to the Jyoti-Savitri Zilla Parishad school instead.

Last year, The Indian Express reported how Aditi Parthe, a class 7 student selected for Pune Zilla Parishad’s NASA educational tour after three rounds of tests, came from the Nigudaghar Zilla Parishad school, which did not even have a single computer.

The new school has commenced only for the initial three grades and will accept admissions only in kindergarten from next year onwards.

This structure also deprives students from the old Zilla Parishad school who are currently in class 3 or 4 from ever getting admission to the new school. When pointed out, Zilla Parishad CEO Gajanan Patil told The Indian Express, “You are right. We will have to think about this, on how to accommodate them in the coming years. It’s a good suggestion.”

The Zilla Parishad has also announced that the Jyoti-Savitri Zilla Parishad School pilot project will be replicated across the district. However, the feasibility of replicating a model in which a government school is built through CSR funds and is run by an NGO remains to be seen.