In Ralegan Siddhi the primary school (upto 4th std) was started as early as in 1932 understandably with one teacher and one room. India gained Independence and two Five Year Plans went by with the Second Plan specially acclaimed for its high success (11% growth rate). But even till 1962, for Ralegan primary school it was still the same dilapidated room with one teacher.
It was in 1962 that the villagers added one more room to the school by shramadaan. In spite of these conditions, in 1971 out of the total population of 1209, 30.43% (72 women and 290) men were literate. Many boys went to nearby towns viz. Shirur and Parner to continue their education, but rarely did a girl. The drop-out rate was high, more so for girls, for obvious socio-economic and cultural reasons.
Under Anna Hazare's leadership the people of Ralegan decided to break away from the vicious circle and use education as a meaningful input into integrated development. The Tarun Mandal started a balwadi in 1976 so that the children get an early start. They also started paying attention to the functioning of the primary school. Soon they realized that the school was not providing any education to the children. They informed the Zilla Parishad (which runs the school) that the village had decided to close down the government school and run an alternative school on its own. The Zilla Parishad authorities realized the gravity of the threat - that this move on the part of villagers might rock their entire structure. They immediately transferred all the teachers and sent for the best teachers from all over the district and instructed them to work in co-operation with the Tarun Mandal and Anna Hazare. Under constant vigilance of the people of Ralegan, the primary school is now working very well.
The people also decided to start a high school in the village itself to ensure proper education to the village children during the formative years and also that more girls could also avail of education. A local body under the name of Sant Yadav Baba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal was registered and the high school was started in 1979. Anyone who has worked in the field of education knows that it is not possible to run a private school without government aid unless it is exclusively for the rich who can pay high fees and lumpsum donations. There was another high school in a neighbouring village only about 2 kilometers from Ralegan. On this ground the state authorities refused financial grant to the Ralegan high school. The villagers ran the high school with their own money for one year and then resorted to a mass dharna outside the Zilla Parishad. The state education minister had to announce the grant to the school as a special case in consideration of the determination of the villagers to have their own school for better education.
The desire of the people for good educational facilities was also amply demonstrated at the time of construction of the hostel for school boys coming from neighbouring villages. The grant for the hostel building under NREP, was released like most government programs - only two months before it would lapse on account of the year ending. The village people offered shramadaan and worked round the clock to utilize the grant of Rs. 4 lakhs within 2 months. The completed building is now evaluated at around Rs. 16 lakhs. Now some residents of the neighbouring villages who have shifted to Bombay have also sent their children for studying in the Ralegan high school. The school has become so famous that children from far away villages also seek admission here in large numbers.
Thus, during the period 1975 to 1985, educational facilities were created ih the village in the form of a big room for a balwadi, a new building for the government primary school, a building for the high school run by Sant Yadav Baba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal and a hostel building. There was a large component of people's involvement in creation of these facilities in the form of shramadaan though, of course, government grants were taken wherever possible. Not a single rupee has been taken as donation from any funding agencies or individual philanthropists.
In the balwadi the average enrollment from 1976 to 1986 was of 50 children, whereas in the primary schools, from 1975 to 1978, on an average 73 children entered the first standard. Of these only 15 passed out of the 4th standard. From 1979 to 1985, on an average 55 children entered the first standard and 39 passed out of the 4th standard. In the high school, from 1979 to 1985 on an average 18 students passed the high school examination. In 1986 there were 80 children in the balwadi, 201 in the primary school and 353 were studying in the high school. Thirtysix students including 6 girls were pursuing higher education including professional courses, after passing their School Secondary Certificate (lOth standard Board) examination from Ralegan. Two girls were doing their D.Ed. (Diploma in Education) course to become teachers, four of them were in 12th standard, where like the boys they were also doing different courses in Science, Commerce, Industrial Technical Institute (ITI) and also two of them were in the Co-operatives Training Institute at Ahmednagar.
Besides these physical achievements, the
major objective that the people of Ralegan wanted to accomplish with the
help of education was that of making better individuals. For this purpose
emphasis is laid on the physical and moral development of children
by regular physical exercises, social consciousness and inculcating moral
values. The programs/methods adopted include games, music, yogasanas,
meditation, recitation of Geeta, Hari-Paatth discussions with students
on moral values and superstitions and involvement of students in programs
like "Untouchability Eradication Fortnight", Gram Swarajya
Camps, Adult Education Program, tree plantation and maintaining the village
clean program. Special coaching is also given to children for attaining
proficiency in academics.
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