School ready to admit students in Phule's ancestral village of Khanavdi

Hindustan Times

19-06-2025

The school named after Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule in Khanavdi village of Purandar tehsil, where the social reformer couple hailed from, is ready to admit students.
Jyoti Savitri International School (JSIS), set to commence classes from April 2026, marks a turning point for educational access in a region where lack of infrastructure had long forced children, especially girls, to abandon studies after primary school.
The school, first proposed in 2020, will begin with kindergarten to Class 2 and aims to serve around 1,840 underprivileged students up to Class 12 in the coming years. It will follow Christel House model of holistic education that integrates academics with nutrition, health care, transportation, school supplies, and career support. Christel House India will run the school as a secular, CBSE-affiliated institution in partnership with the Pune Zilla Parishad and the Maharashtra government.
The initiative was conceived by Rishikesh Huli, principal architect at Pensive Architecture, who was asked by Khanavdi villagers to renovate a memorial for the Phule couple. Moved by the community's reverence for the visionaries, he proposed a more enduring tribute—quality education that addresses the very barriers the Phules fought to dismantle.
The gram panchayat responded by donating 12 acres, and Huli's team designed the campus pro bono. The vision was soon expanded into a residential school for destitute girls and underserved communities with the support of then-zilla parishad CEO Ayush Prasad.
According to Huli, the construction of phase 1 is nearing completion with CSR funding from Fiat India Automobiles Private Limited (FIAPL). The campus will feature 24 classrooms, science and computer labs, administrative offices, modern sanitation, activity areas, and dedicated language labs. A residential facility for destitute girls from Class 5 onward is also planned.
A memorandum of understanding was signed earlier this year in the presence of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and school education minister Dada Bhuse, marking a public-private partnership between the Pune Zilla Parishad, Christel House India, and corporate and community stakeholders.
'The partnership is a major step towards equitable education in rural Pune,' said Pune Zilla Parishad CEO Gajanan Patil. 'Built as a tribute to Savitribai and Mahatma Phule, the school will offer high-quality education at no cost to children, especially girls from deprived communities.'
Jaison C Mathew, CEO, Christel House India, called it a 'landmark partnership' that aligned closely with Maharashtra's vision for its children. 'We are committed to empowering every child with not just academic excellence but life opportunities—moving them from classrooms to life.'
The need for such a facility is pressing. Research shows that while the region is home to over 13,000 school-aged children, English-medium CBSE-aligned institutions remain scarce.
David Harris, CEO, Christel House International, said, 'With this school, we are planting seeds for generational change—exactly the kind of vision Mahatma and Savitribai Phule had when they first challenged the barriers to education in this country.'
More than 150 years after the Phules opened their first school for girls in Pune, their legacy comes full circle in Khanavdi—this time, with a school that promises not just access, but empowerment.