Who is the first female teacher of India

Savitribai Phule's name is counted among the first feminists of India. She was the first-ever female teacher in the country and was the headmistress as well. Her husband Jyotiba Phule was an education reformist as well. Check her biography below.

Savitribai Phule Biography

On the 3rd of January, 2022, the country celebrates the first female teacher of India, Savitribai Phule. She was an activist who worked for the education of females of India and exhorted them to get an education to break free from the shackles of socially constructed discriminatory practices. Check more information about Savitribai Phule in her biography shared below.

Check various tweets on her birth anniversary below too.

Savitribai Phule: Biography

Early Life: Education, Marriage, Family

Savitribai was born on January 3rd, 1831 in Naigaon village in Maharashtra. At that time being born in a socially backward Mali community meant no education for the female. She was illiterate when she married Jyotiba Phule at the age of 9. Jyotiba was 13 at that time and studied in class 3rd. 

Savitribai found her route to education due to her forward-looking husband Jyotiba Phule who believed strongly in female education to remove social inequalities. 

He began teaching his wife at home against the family diktat. 

An incident that changed Savitribai Phule's life:

When Savitribai was young she was pulling the pages of an English language book, when her father caught her red-handed. He snatched the book from her hands and threw it far away asking her to never touch one again. It was considered only the right of upper-caste men in those days to study. Savitribai vouched that day to learn to read and write no matter what happens.   

Savitribai Phule Biography: Career

She was enrolled by Jyotiba Phule in a teacher's training programme at a training institute in Pune. She actually enrolled herself in 2 teachers training programmes - American missionary, Cynthia Farrar, in Ahmednagar and at a normal school in Pune. Savitri then went on to become the first woman headmistress of any school in India and the first-ever woman teacher of the country. Her birthday is also observed as Balika Din in Maharashtra. 

She began teaching a girls school in Marathwada in Pune alongside Sagunbai who was one of the revolutionary feminists at that time. 

By 1851, Savitribai Phule and Jotiba were running three different schools in Pune only for girls. The three schools combined had more than 150 girl students enrolled. 

Savitribai Phule Biography: Resistance In Her Job

Savitribai Phule used to carry an extra saree to her school as she was peddled with stones and dirt by the conservative upper caste locals while she used to commute to her schools for teaching. 

Phule’s faced such troubles from the upper Brahmin class in their locality as they belonged to suppressed Mali caste and they were educated despite that fact. 

Ultimately they had to leave their fathers house in 1849 after being blamed to commit the sin of studying against Manusmriti and its Brahmanical texts. 

Together with her husband, she taught children from different castes and had opened a total of 18 schools. They also opened a care centre called Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha for rape victims and pregnancy victims. 

Savitribai Phule Biography: Death

Jyotiba and Savitribai had no children of their own. They had an adopted son Yashwant who opened a clinic to work for Bubonic plague victims. Savitribai Phule died due to the same plague that affected her, She breathed her last on March 10, 1897. 

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FAQ

How much was Savitribai Phule educated?

Savitribai Phule was uneducated till she got married to Jyotiba Phule. She was then educated for a Teachers training programme once she got married.

Who was Savitribai Phule?

Savitribai Phule was the first female teacher of India and the first among the feminists of the country as well. She was the wife of Jyotiba Phule.

Savitribai was married off at the age of 9 to a 12 year old Jyotirao Phule. Her thirst for learning impressed her husband, who then taught her to read and write. She then went on to train at Ms. Farar’s institute in Ahmednagar and Ms.Mitchell’s school in Pune. She became the first female teacher in India when she set up the first school for girls on 1 January 1848 in Bhide Wada in Pune, Maharashtra. Her first batch consisted of 8 girls.

Bravely facing resistance

During those days, women were not allowed to step outside their homes to work. So when Savitribai used to head to school everyday, she was verbally abused and pelted with rotten eggs and cow-dung by orthodox men. Her husband then handed her an extra sari. She would walk to school, receiving all the dirt that was thrown at her; reach school and change into the clean sari. By 1851, she was running three schools for 150 girl students.

One of India’s first feminists

Savitribai conducted her adopted son, Yeshwant’s wedding under the ‘Satya Shodhak Samaj’, or the truth-seekers society, with no priests, no dowry and at very little expense. She even brought her son’s fiancée for a home stay before the wedding, so she could get familiar with her soon-to-be home and family. Moreover, she took on the household chores so the young woman had time to study.

Savitribai is an iconic figure for Indian women who understood the true meaning of women’s liberation long before feminism became fashionable.

She broke yet another taboo when she led the funeral procession of her husband after he passed away in 1890. She carried the funeral mud-pot herself and led the procession.

Heroic death

When Pune was hit by the plague in 1897, she carried a 10-year-old boy from Mundhwa to the clinic strapped to her back. The boy recovered but Savitribai caught the infection and breathed her last in March 1897.

Every Indian woman who is educated today should feel grateful & indebted to Savitribai! The Pune University was renamed as Savitribai Phule University in 2014 to honour this social reformer.

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