Savitribai Phule and Fatima Sheikh Opened India's First School for Girls in 1848

In 1848, Savitribai Phule and Fatima Sheikh founded a school for girls in Pune, then part of the Bombay Presidency. The institution was the first of its kind in the region to admit students regardless of caste or religion.

Phule, who had been educated by her husband Jyotirao Phule, became the school's first headmistress. Sheikh, a Muslim woman from a conservative family, joined as a teacher after the Phule family offered her shelter when she faced ostracism for supporting their work.

The school opened with eight girls on its rolls, a number that grew despite sustained hostility from orthodox sections of society. Phule and Sheikh endured daily harassment, including stones and cow dung thrown at them on their way to work.

Their curriculum included reading, writing, arithmetic, and vocational skills, aiming to give girls practical tools for independence. The founders also ran a night school for women laborers and a care center for pregnant widows.

By 1851, the Phules were running three schools for girls in Pune with a combined enrollment of over 150 students. Sheikh's role as a Muslim woman teaching alongside a Hindu woman made the enterprise a rare example of inter-community collaboration in 19th-century India.

Historical records indicate that the colonial administration eventually recognized the schools, though social opposition persisted for decades. The model established by Phule and Sheikh influenced later reformers and the development of public education policy after independence.

Both women continued teaching and advocating for marginalized communities until their deaths. Phule died in 1897 while caring for plague victims; Sheikh's later years are less documented but she remained active in the school system.

Modern scholars cite their partnership as a foundational moment in Indian feminism and the struggle for educational equity. The original school building in Pune is now a protected heritage site.