Meet India’s first female teacher, Savitribai Phule

Savitribai Phule is the first female teacher of the first women’s school in India. She relentlessly fought against the dominant caste system and worked towards the upliftment of women

Savitribai was born on January 3, 1831 in Naigaon, a small village in the state of Maharashtra, India.
Savitribai was married to Jyotirao Phule in 1840 at the age of nine and became a child bride. She moved to Pune with him soon after.

Jyotirao taught Savitribai to read and write. Savitribai undertook teachers’ training at Ahmednagar and in Pune. She became a qualified teacher after she passed her 4th examination in 1847.

In 1848, the emancipated husband and wife finally established India’s first school for girls in Vishrambag Wada, Pune.

Jyotirao educated and trained Savitribai, his first and ideal candidate for this job of a teacher.

Whenever Savitribai went out of her house, groups of orthodox men would follow her and abuse her in obscene language. They would throw rotten eggs, cow dung, tomatoes and stones at her.

Even though Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule faced a lot of resistance and opposition from contemporary society, they went on to run three different schools for girls in Pune. They also established two educational trusts, The Native Female School, Pune and the Society for Promoting the Education of Mahars, Mangs, and Etceteras.

After years of continuous reform, she built a large shelter in 1864 for destitute women, widows and child brides cast aside by their families. She educated them all and also adopted Yashwantrao, the son of a widow sheltered in this institution.