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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Indian chain of private schools}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates}}<br />
{{Use Indian English}}<br />
{{Infobox school<br />
| name = Vidya Bharati<br />
| image = Vidyabharti.png<br />
| image_size = 180px<br />
| motto = ''Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye''<br />
| motto_translation = ''That Is Knowledge Which Liberates''<br />
| location = <br />
| region = [[India]]<br />
| schooltype = <br />
| type = [[Educational institution]]<br />
| religious_affiliation = <br />
| established = {{Start date and age|1977|df=yes}}<br />
| status = Active<br />
| president = <br />
| chairman =<br />
| faculty = <br />
| area = <br />
| mascot = <br />
| publication = {{Bulleted_list|Vidya Bharati Sanskriti Shiksha Sansthan, Kurukshetra|Bharatiya Shiksha Sodh Sansthan, Lucknow}}<br />
| affiliations = [[Sangh Parivar]]<br />
| key_people = <br />
| website = {{url|vidyabharti.net}}<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Vidya Bharati''' (short for '''Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan''') is the educational wing of [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS). It runs one of the largest private network of schools in [[India]], operating 12,000 schools with over 3.2 Million students, as of 2016<ref>{{cite news |title=PM Modi urges Vidya Bharati schools to aim for excellence |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/vidya-bharati-akhil-bharatiya-shiksha-sansthan-pm-modi-urges-vidya-bharati-schools-to-aim-for-excellence/ |access-date=13 February 2019 |work=The Indian Express |agency=Express News Service |location=New Delhi |language=en-IN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Gupta|first=Shekhar|title=Confessions Of A Shakhahari|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/confessions-of-a-shakhahari/295285|website=Outlook|access-date=31 December 2017}}</ref> and has its registered headquarters in [[Lucknow]] with a functional headquarters in [[Delhi]] and a sub-office in [[Kurukshetra]].<ref name="Bakaya">{{cite book |first=Akshay |last=Bakaya |chapter=Lessons from Kurukshetra the RSS Education Project |editor=Anne Vaugier-Chatterjee |title=Education and Democracy in India |publisher=Manohar |location=New Delhi |year=2004 |isbn=8173046042}}</ref><ref name="Nair">{{cite book |first=Padmaja |last=Nair |title=Religious political parties and their welfare work: Relations between the RSS, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Vidya Bharati Schools in India |publisher=University of Birmingham |year=2009 |isbn=978-8187226635 |url=http://epapers.bham.ac.uk/1570/1/Nair_PoliticalParties.pdf |access-date=2014-09-15}}</ref> In the year 2020, the million lives club selected Vidya Bharati as an official member of [[Vanguard]] cohort for its contribution to school education.<ref>{{cite news|title=Vidya Bharati Selected as Vanguard Member by the International Development Innovation Alliance IDIA for its Million Lives Club |url=https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/business/2019/10/24/pwr6--vidya%20bharati.html |publisher=The Week | access-date=10 Nov 2020 }}</ref><br />
<br />
== History ==<br />
RSS, under the tutelage of [[M. S. Golwalkar]] established its first Gita school at [[Kurukshetra]] in 1946. But, the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh#Second ban and acquittal|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]] in 1952, by [[Nanaji Deshmukh]].<ref name="Nair"/><ref name="spreading"/><br />
<br />
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]], [[Bihar]], [[Madhya Pradesh]] and [[Andhra Pradesh]].<ref name="Nair"/><ref name="spreading"/><br />
<br />
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]] (political arm of RSS) winning the national elections, as a member of the [[Janata Party]]. 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]] (NCERT).<ref name="Nair"/><ref name="spreading"><br />
{{cite news |first=Venkitesh |last=Ramakrishnan |title=A spreading network |newspaper=Frontline |access-date=2014-09-16 |url=http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1523/15230100.htm}}<br />
</ref><br />
<br />
== Organisation ==<br />
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.<ref name="Jaffrelot">{{cite book|last=Jaffrelot|first=Christophe|title=Religion, Caste, and Politics in India|year=2011|publisher=C Hurst & Co|isbn=978-1849041386}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Sundar">{{cite book|title=Revolution and Pedagogy : Interdisciplinary and Transnational Perspectives on Educational Foundations|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=39|issue=16|pages=1605–1612|last=Sundar|first=Nandini|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2005|isbn=978-1-4039-8013-7|editor=E. Ewing|location=New York|chapter=Teaching to Hate: The Hindu Right's Pedagogical Program|jstor=4414900|doi=10.1057/9781403980137}}</ref> As of 2019, there were 12,828 formal schools and 11,353 informal schools.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Informal Education Units (11,353) {{!}} Vidya Bharti Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Sansthan|url=http://vidyabharti.net/index.php/informal-education-units-11-353|access-date=2020-11-16|website=vidyabharti.net}}</ref> In 2019, the formal schools had a total strength of more than 34 lakh (3.4 million) students.<br />
<br />
Most of the Vidya Bharati schools are affiliated to the [[Central Board for Secondary Education]] or their local State Boards.<ref name="Sundar"/> Vidya Bharati-run educational programs were adopted in [[Madhya Pradesh]] as an alternate model of education when [[BJP]] was in power.<ref name="Malik">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.questia.com/library/1280789/hindu-nationalists-in-india-the-rise-of-the-bharatiya|title=Hindu Nationalists in India : The Rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party|last1=Malik|first1=Yogendra K.|last2=Singh|first2=V. B.|publisher=Westview Press|year=1994|isbn=0-8133-8810-4|location=Boulder|page=157|chapter=Organization, Decision-Making, and Supportive Groups}}</ref><br />
<br />
In addition to formal schools (which go by a variety of names such as ''Adarsh Vidhya Mandir'', ''{{transliteration|hi|Shishu Vatika}}'', ''{{transliteration|hi| Saraswati Shishu Mandir}}'', ''{{transliteration|hi| Saraswati Vidya Mandir}}'', ''{{transliteration|hi|Saraswati Vidyalaya}}'' 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.{{Citation needed}}<br />
<br />
=== Presence ===<br />
It has schools in remote areas of the [[Northeast India|north-eastern states]] as well as states like [[Kerala]] and [[Tamil Nadu]] where RSS does not have much influence.<ref name="Nair"/> Particular attention is given to underdeveloped regions and regions inhabited by tribal communities.<ref name="spreading" /> 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]] essay writing competitions.<ref>{{cite news|title=Muslim boy tops Class 10 exams in RSS-affiliated school|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/010616/muslim-boy-tops-class-10-exams-in-rss-affiliated-school.html |access-date=9 November 2020|publisher=Deccan Chronicle}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Assam Class 10 topper is a Muslim boy from RSS-backed school|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/assam-class-10-topper-is-muslim-boy-of-rss-backed-school/story-9dySC10MPjdqeQmlwJrOlL.html |access-date=9 November 2020|publisher=Hindustan Times}}</ref> The chain has over 29 state and regional committees affiliated to it, making it the largest voluntary association in India.<ref name="Lall">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQNUZskqQ5UC|title=Coalition Politics and Hindu Nationalism|last=Lall|first=Marie|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=0-415-35981-3|editor1=Katherine Adeney|location=New York|chapter=Indian education policy under the NDA government|pages=169–186|editor2=Lawrence Saez|chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780203007792/chapters/10.4324/9780203007792-19|doi=10.4324/9780203007792-19}}</ref> Students in schools run by Vidya Bharati come from all religious groups. For instance, in [[Uttar Pradesh]], more than 12,000 Muslim and Christian students study in these schools.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Kapil Dixit|title=Muslim students in UP's RSS schools rise 30% in 3 years {{!}} Allahabad News - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/muslim-students-in-ups-rss-schools-rise-30-in-3-years/articleshow/74234292.cms|access-date=2020-11-16|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref><br />
<br />
=== Funding and patronage ===<br />
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.<ref name="Lall"/> The network also benefited from favourable allotment of land by [[Jana Sangh]] and [[Bharatiya Janata Party|BJP]] politicians.<ref name="Nair"/><ref name="Sundar"/> It was also helped with miscellaneous patronage by the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) whenever it was in power in the states<ref name="Sundar"/> or in the Centre (1999-2004).<ref name="Lall"/><br />
<br />
Nanaji Deshmukh believed that the movement had turned 'materialistic', during the later phases but was not paying enough attention to recruiting high-quality teachers.<ref name="Bakaya"/> The schools attract the children of urban and small-town shopkeepers and those of professional and government official families.<ref name="Kumar">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FoF5jCEepGkC|title=Fundamentalisms and Society: Reclaiming the Sciences, the Family, and Education|last=Kumar|first=Krishna|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1998|isbn=0226508811|editor1=Martin E Marty|pages=536–557|chapter=Hindu Revivalism and Education in North-Central India|editor2=R. Scott Appleby}}</ref><br />
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==Ideology and Objectives==<br />
[[Dinanath Batra]], 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.<ref name="Chandavarkar">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/history-culture-and-the-indian-city/historians-and-the-nation/D1F46C81CC743B0A3E975C631169F143|title=History, Culture and the Indian City : Essays|last=Chandavarkar|first=Rajnarayan|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-521-76871-9|pages=197|chapter=Historians and the nation|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511642036.009}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Kumar"/><br />
<br />
== Cultural education ==<br />
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 Jhansi Rani Lakshmibai, Ahilyabhai Holkar, Rudramadevi and other successful women in various fields like Kalpana Chawla, Kiran Bedi, Indra Nooyi etc.{{Citation needed}}<br />
<br />
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 [and] adjust his nature and programme so as to fulfil the nation's will and necessity."<ref name="Kumar"/><br />
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The schools also use the students as conduits for spreading RSS concept of education.<br />
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==State level committee==<br />
The state-level affiliate committees of Vidya Bharati go by various names, depending on the socio-political situation in each state:<ref name=spreading/><br />
* [[Delhi]]: ''Hindu Shiksha Samiti''<ref name=spreading/><br />
* [[Haryana]]: ''Hindu Shiksha Samiti''<ref name=AP/><br />
* [[Punjab]]: ''Sarv Hitkari Shiksha Samiti''<ref name=spreading/><br />
* [[Bihar]]: ''Vidya Vikas Samiti''<br />
* [[Jammu]]: ''Bharatiya Shiksha Samiti''<br />
* [[Jharkhand]]: ''Vananchal Shiksha Samiti'',<ref name=spreading/> ''Vidya Vikas Samiti'', ''Shishu Shiksha Vikas Samiti''<ref><br />
{{cite news |title=RSS wing steps in to fill govt school gap |newspaper=The Telegraph |access-date=2014-09-20 |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1021130/asp/ranchi/story_1434897.asp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140924145852/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1021130/asp/ranchi/story_1434897.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 September 2014}}</ref><br />
* [[Odisha]]: ''Shiksha Vikas Samiti''<ref name=spreading/><br />
* [[Telangana]] and [[Andhra Pradesh]]: ''Sri Saraswati Vidya Peetham''<ref name=AP><br />
{{cite web |title=Sri Vidyaranya Avasa Vidyalayam |access-date=2014-09-20 |url=http://avasam-jammikunta.blogspot.co.uk/p/history.html}}<br />
</ref><br />
* [[Tamil Nadu]]: ''Vivekananda Kendra'' and others<ref name=spreading/><br />
* [[Kerala]]: ''Bharatiya Vidya Niketan''<ref>Bharatheeya Vidyanikethan the Kerala chapter of Vidya Bharathi Akhil Bharatheeya Siksha Sansthan<br />
{{cite web |title=Vyasa Vidya Niketan - Our parent body |url=http://www.vyasavidyanikethan.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=8&lang=ml |access-date=8 June 2018 |archive-date=19 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419122739/http://vyasavidyanikethan.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=8&lang=ml |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />
* [[Assam]]: ''Shishu Shiksha Samiti''<ref>{{cite web|title=Shishu Shiksha Samiti|url=http://www.vbassam.org/|access-date=8 June 2018|archive-date=30 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330145140/http://vbassam.org/|url-status=dead}}</ref><br />
* [[Uttrakhand]] : Bharatiya Shiksha Samiti<br />
* [[Uttar Pradesh]]: Bharatiya Shiksha Samiti<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
<br />
{{div col}}<br />
* [[Akhara]]<br />
* [[Akshaya Patra Foundation]]<br />
* [[Education in India]]<br />
* [[Ekal Vidyalaya]]<br />
* [[Gurukula]]<br />
* [[History of education in the Indian subcontinent]]<br />
* [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]]<br />
* [[Swami Lakshamanananda]]<br />
* [[Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram]]<br />
{{div col end}}<br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
==Other sources==<br />
{{Refbegin}}<br />
* {{cite journal |first=K. N. |last=Panikkar |title=Secular and democratic education |journal=Social Scientist |volume=27 |number=9/10 |year=1999 |pages=70–75 |doi=10.2307/3518105 |jstor=3518105 }}<br />
* {{cite book |first= R. |last=Sharma |title=Indian Education at the Crossroads |publisher=Shubhi Publications |location=Delhi |year=2002 |isbn=978-8187226635}}<br />
* {{cite news |first=Tanika |last=Sarkar |title=Educating the children of the Hindu Rashtra: Notes on RSS schools |journal=Comparative Studies of South Asia |volume=14 |number=2 |year=1994 |pages=10–15}}<br />
{{Refend}}<br />
<br />
{{Sangh Parivar}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Anti-communist organizations]]<br />
[[Category:Anti-communism in India]] <br />
[[Category:Anti-Islam sentiment in India]] <br />
[[Category:Hindu organizations]]<br />
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[[Category:Educational organisations based in India]]<br />
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[[Category:Hindu nationalism]]<br />
[[Category:1946 establishments in India]]<br />
[[Category:Hindu educational institutions]]</div>117.209.212.245