Progress of Education in Navsari Taluka

K. M. Kapadia Navsari is a town with a population of 44, 663 according to the Census of 1951. It is a small town with all urban amenities. There are 11 Primary schools, two Anglo-Vernacular schools, six High schools, of which two are specially for girls, a college with units for Arts and Science courses and a Technical school. There are four libraries—two of them having more than ten thousand books each. Three cinema houses cater for public entertainment. There are two public hospitals, one of them being run by the Government, and five private ones, of which two are for eyes and three for general surgery. Two of the latter are equipped with X-ray apparatus. There are two public maternity hospitals, one for the Parsis and the other for the Hindus, besides three private maternity homes. Since 1923, electricity is available for the most part of the day for lighting and sundry industrial activities which require electrical power. Water supply was introduced in January 1929 and underground drainage was completed by 1934-35. There are five banks including a Land Mortgage Bank which started functioning in 1938.

The town has two textile mills, one established in 1932 and the other in 1938. They provide employment to about three thousand workers. There are a 'metal works, ' two bobbin factories, two saw mills and about twenty small industrial concerns.

Before the merger of States, Navsari was the district headquarter of Navsari division (prant). It was also the taluka headquarter of Navsari taluka, comprising 78 villages. After the merger of Baroda State with Bombay State, Jalalpore taluka of Surat district was merged with the old Navsari taluka and consequently the present enlarged taluka comprises 145 villages spread out on all its four sides. The nearest ones are at a distance of one mile, the farthest about fifteen miles away. Since the thirties, bus routes connect a very large number of these villages with the town.

A study of rural-urban relations in this taluka is a fascinating one; and the present paper seeks to analyse one aspect of it, namely the realm of education. 17 On the initiative of some of the Parsis of Navsari living in Bombay, a school for Parsi boys and girls was opened in Navsari in Mota Falia on October 6, 1856. It was named Navsari Zarthosti Madresa. The beginning of primary education for Parsi children in Navsari had been made by Sir Jamsetji Jejeebhoy (1st Bart. ) about three ears before (in 1853) by opening two primary schools in Malesar; one for the Parsi boys and the other for Parsi girls. The Madresa besides providing primary education up to the standard fourth to children of Mota Falia, imparted instructions in English up to the third grade. The Madresa differed from the earlier primary schools in its aims and scope. As its very name suggests, instruction in the Zoroastrian religion was one of its primary aims. "That in this Madresa education of all grades and denomination be imparted to the sons of the Zoroastrian community, especially in English, Gujaratee, Zend Avesta, Phelvi, and Persian; and that instruction in the Zoroastrian Religion ought also to be given. " The Madresa authorities not merely emphasized religious instruction as a part of the Madresa curriculum but they even desired and instructed that the lessons for which material was drawn from other religions like Christianity or Islam should not be taught to the Parsi students. Orthodox and conservative as the Parsis were, they wanted their children to know only their own religion and to live it.

The Parsis in Bombay had realized the importance of English and they wanted the children of the community to avail themselves of the opportunities the knowledge of English opened up. They consequently founded the institution that would help achieve this end while concentrating itself on the religious, educational and physical development of the Parsi community. The Parsis in Navsari do not, however, appear to be prepared for English education. As the reports of the Madresa Committee for the years 1886 (p. 16) and 1892-94 (p. 32) reveal, "people got immeasurably flared up with the very name of English education.... Attempts were made in the initial stages to stem the progress of the Madresa. "

There were four classes in Gujarati section and three in English. Subjects in the two higher classes were taught in English. The initial strength of the Madresa was 75 which increased in the very next year to 219, of whom 158 were in Gujarati section and 61 in English section. There were 29 boys in Gujarati section between the ages of four and seven and 38 in English section in the age group of 10— 15. 18 Owing to the insufficiency of funds the Madresa Committee introduced on August 1, 1862 a monthly fee of annas eight in the English classes; of annas four for the boys above the age of ten and of annas two for the boys of lower age in the Gujarati classes for the children of such parents as were in a position to pay. This measure of the Committee was resented and 36 students were withdrawn from the Madresa as a mark of protest. Cowasji Jehangir thereupon do- nated Rs. 10, 000 to the Madresa authorising it to withdraw from this donation such amount as it would have collected from the fees enabling it thereby to give education free. He however authorised the Committee to reintroduce the fees if in their discretion they found it necessary in the interest of the Madresa.

Cowasji Jehangir Readymoney donated Rs. 25, 000 to the Madresa in 1863, and in appreciation of this magnanimous donation, the Madresa was named after him. On Cowasji becoming a Baronet, the Madresa was renamed as Sir Cowasji Jehangir Navsari Zarthosti Madresa on April 14, 1877. It is a happy coincidence that not only the name of the Madresa but its entire character had changed in this year. It is the first milestone in the history of the present Madresa.

But before coming to this momentous change in the history of the Madresa, certain developments that took place in the field of education in the town in the meantime need be recorded.

Although the Madresa imparted education to both the boys and the girls, Dosabhai Faramji Camaji, on recommendation of Sorabji Shapoorji Bengali, opened a school for four Vernacular standards for Parsi girls in February 1858. The supervision of the School was entrusted to S. F. Vajifdar, the headmaster of the Madresa. The initial strength of the School was 59 which increased to 80 in the first three years of its working. The expenses of the School were initially borne by Camaji and Bengali and later on, from 1866 to 1872, by Nasarwanji Ratanji Tata. On October 8, 1872, Tata donated Rs. 7, 000 from the estate of his sister, Bai Navajbai, deceased on that day, to open a school in Navsari to impart religious instruction to Parsi girls and the School was named after her as Bai Navajbai Tata Zarthosti Girls' School. Further, in a trust-deed executed by him in 1872, Tata assigned to the School a fair contribution of the income earmarked for charitable works. On his death, his son, Jamshedji Nasarwanji Tata, donated Rs. 5, 000 to augment the School's fund. Nasarwanji Tata had also donated Rs. 20, 000 for the construction of a building to house the School and Zend Avesta Madresa. 19 The building was declared open on March 27, 1883. After 1886 when the School was placed in charge of a Committee, it was made full-fledged Vernacular school (for standards seven) by opening three higher standards. Sewing as well as the preparation of kusti* along with religious instruction were made compulsory subjects of study and they have been so till today. The community being against the teaching of English to its children in general, and to the females in particular, the Tata family promised not to introduce instruction in English in this School.

The establishment of separate schools for boys and girls after the primary stage reflects the attitude of the Parsi community to coeducation. At the same time a school for girls finds ample justification for its separate existence in the attitude of the community to the English education. Both the schools, the Madresa and the Tata Girls' School, aimed at imparting religious instruction to Parsi chil-ren. In addition to it, the Madresa laid stress on preparing the Parsi boys for better employment opportunities with the help of the knowledge of English; the Girls' School, on the other hand, while accepting the necessity of educating the females emphasised that their development should be primarily in the context of home and not the world. They were mainly to be trained for their traditional arts and crafts and not for job opportunities.

The educational institutions which came into existence in Navsari in the fifties of the last century made ample and convenient provision, for the intellectual development of the Parsi children of both sexes. There was, however, no institutional provision for even primary education for boys, much less for the girls, of other communities. It was in the year 1863 that Rustomjee Jamshedjee Jeejibhoy, a man of cosmopolitan outlook, donated Rs. 70, 000 to the Bombay Government for opening English schools for all communities in Nav-sari, Billimora and Bulsar. A momentous step for the non-Parsi communities and for the progress of education in South Gujarat was thus taken by the progressive outlook of a Parsi gentleman. With the opening of Rustomjee Jamshedjee Jeejibhoy school in Navsari on February 19, 1863 education was brought within the purview of all communities. The School was managed by the Education Department of the Bombay Government till March 31, 1889 and an additional annual fixed grant of about Rs. 514 was allotted to this School. The

* A sacred thread worn by every Parsi after the initiation ceremony, navajot. 20

Management of the School then came to be transferred to the Finance Committee of the R. J. J. School Fund. The school imparted education in the first three English classes; the fourth class was added to it later in the year 1892. The initial strength of the school was 60 which rose to 104 in 1865 but considerably declined in the years that followed. It seems that the Hindu students constituted about 70 per cent of the School population in the earlier stages. The School was housed in the old building of Sir J. J. Primary School.

The late Shrimant Sayajirao Gaekwar of Baroda, who came to the throne in 1875, was a man of great vision and foresight. He opened primary schools in Navsari for the children of all communities in 1876. He was fully aware of the fact that education in the initial stage should be imparted in the mother- tongue of the child and he, therefore, opened three primary schools for the children of the Maharashtrian, the Gujarati and the Muslim communities. The Marathi school was opened on June 1, the Gujarati school on August 1, and the Urdu school on December 1. The late Highness also favoured female education. A girls' school was opened on May 1, 1875. A separate girls' school for each community was not opened; there could not have been enough number of students for even one school in those days. This inference is based on the fact that when His Highness found that a Urdu girls' school was necessary, he did open it (6-10-1902). His Highness equally patronised education among the Harijans, and in order to encourage it, he opened a school for them in 1892. In the same year a school to impart instruction in music was also opened in Navsari.

But the Gaekwar was not satisfied by opening only the primary schools. It was his great concern to see that children of all communities received English education as well. Impelled by this urge of the Gaekwar, the State Government approached the authorities of the Madresa with an offer of an annual grant of Rs. 2, 600 on the conditions that a. The Madresa shall be open to all the communities. b. The Gujarati branch of the Madresa shall be closed so as to make the whole fund of the Madresa available for the English school only. c. The school teaching shall begin not lower than with the fourth standard and end as it now does with the Matriculation standard. This change, however, may be carried out gradually as the cost of the school presses on available funds and as the higher classes of the school come to be attended by larger number. 21 d. If any religious instruction is desired to be provided to Parsi children of the school, the cost of the same shall not exceed Rs. 500 per annum. e. The school fee shall, for the present, be reduced to eight annas which may be reasonably raised hereafter with the concurrence of His Highness's Government.

The Headmaster should at least be a Bachelor of Arts and the second master at least a First Year Arts. As the vacancies occur for the teachers they should be filled in by at least matriculates.

Thus, with the acceptance of the Government grant, on June 1, 1877, the Madresa was thrown open to children of all communities in Navsari. In pursuance of the condition of the grant, the two lower English classes were closed in 1878 and the third in 1879. The Madresa thus assumed its present character of a secondary school, imparting education to the students of all communities in only four higher standards of a secondary school in 1879 under the aegis of the State Government.

The house in which the Madresa was being run was not suitable for the purpose. Mr. T. B. Curtis, acting Educational Inspector, North Division, wrote in 1862: "The building in which the students meet (I cannot call it a School House) is dark, incommodious, and ill- ventilated. " On the death of Dhunjibhai Nasarwanji Camaji, his widow Bai Dhanbaiji on November 1, 1861, in fulfilment of the desire expressed by her deceased husband, donated Rs. 10, 000—Rs. 8, 000 for the construction of a building and Rs. 2, 000 for the repair charges. From this donation a building on the site on which the Madresa now stands was bought for Rs. 5, 162-4-0 in 1878.

Thus within 22 years of its foundation the Anglo-Vernacular School in Mota Falia for Parsi children had assumed the character of a Secondary School for the male population of Navsari with a build- ing of its own outside the Parsi colony. The Madresa was thus shorn of the elements that smacked of communal institution.

The Bombay Government used to prefer for government service those who passed the School Final examination held by it. In view of this, the Madresa opened in 1894 a class for School Final Examination. The class seems to have become popular as we find that within 10 years (1894-1903) 41 students appeared at this examination of whom 20 got through, as against 127 who matriculated 22 during this period. It, however, became more popular after 1907 as within 8 years that followed (1907-1915) 60 students passed it as against 102 who matriculated.

Even when the Government Primary schools and R. J. J. School existed at this time to absorb some of the students of the primary and the first three English classes discontinued at the Madresa, the teachers relieved from the Madresa appear to have run private classes for sometime. In the absence of any permanent fund, however, such classes could not possibly be conducted for long. It seems a fund of Rs. 300 was collected and a temporary committee was appointed with private arrangement with the secretaries of the Madresa, Fardunji Kanga and Cowasji Nasarwanji Kanga, to whom the management of these classes was handed over in May 1880. At the end of the year (1880) the late Sorabji Kawasji Tata offered a donation of Rs. 7, 000 which was subsequently raised to Rs. 10, 000, out of the estate of his deceased brother Dadabhai Kawasji Tata to conduct a school with four primary standards and three English classes. The school was named the D. K. Tata A. V. School and the management was transferred to a new committee in 1881. The Baroda Government gave to this institution an annual grant-in-aid of Rs. 300 in 1881, which was later on raised to Rs. 600 in 1884 and to Rs. 1, 200 in 1894. The fee charged to the students was annas eight in the higher classes and annas four in the lower classes, the deficit having been covered over by donations from R. D. Tata and the members of the Tata family.

In January 1893 the primary education in the School was made free through the magnanimous patronage of Ratanji Dadabhai Tata. The school had thus the unique distinction of being the first in the State to introduce free primary education. On the occasion of the foundation ceremony of the building (31-12-1894) J. N. Tata contributed Rs. 5000 for prizes and scholarships to students, thus enabling some of the poor yet intelligent students to receive even English education without any burden to their parents.

R. D. Tata donated Rs. 27, 000 and the Baroda Government contributed Rs. 20, 000 for construction of a school building. The foundation-stone was laid on December 31, 1894 by Khan Bahadur Kersasp Rustomji Dadachanji, Naib Dewan of Baroda, and the building was declared open by H. H. Prince Fattehsimhrao on January 2, 1896. With the erection of the building the School was set on a firm footing 23 and has rapidly grown from strength to strength in the years that followed.

In the year 1887 some of the leading families of the Desais and Dasturs in Navsari embarked upon a venture to open a school which they named as Kharshedji Temulji Desai School. Although this attempt was applauded by the authorities of the Madresa the venture somehow did not succeed. And the school was amalgamated with the D. K. Tata A. V. School on July 15, 1896. The result was that the strength of the Tata School was raised to 473 from 308 that it was at the end of July 1895.

We have now covered a period of about forty years (1853-1896) in the history of the progress of education in Navsari. The salient features of the educational development are: The Parsis were the first to realize the place of education in life and to sense the importance of English education for the progress of the community. Their charitable disposition made it possible for the children of their community to obtain it. In the initial stages, the local community failed to understand the importance of English education, but from the growing strength of the Parsi students in the Madresa it is evident that the community was prepared to move with the times.

The significant fact in this history is that education started as a communal institution sponsored by a leading community for its own members. Indeed education being privately patronized, such non- cosmopolitan or rather communal impositions which are hardly tenable or appreciated today are neither improbable nor ludicrous in the initial stages. However, what was started on communal scale by one member of the community was transformed into cosmopolitan phenomenon by another member of the same community. Another important factor which made it a cosmopolitan phenomenon is the personal and genuine interest of the ruler.

Education was deemed to be an act of charity and had to be free. When fees were imposed, the only motive was to safeguard the in- terest of the institutions against inadequate funds. The State and the individuals were alike actuated by genuine desire to widen its base and to that purpose funds were made available by both. Not only the primary and English schools were thrown open to students of all communities, irrespective of caste, creed or sex, but education was brought within the reach of the poor by also making primary educa- tion free and by keeping the scale of fees lower in English classes. 24 The low rate of fees was sought to be maintained by private donations in the form of scholarships and by State donation in the form of grants. The annual grant of the Madresa which was initially Rs. 2, 600 was raised to Rs. 3, 200 in 1884 and to Rs. 3, 500 in 1889. The initial grant to the D. K. Tata A. V. School was Rs. 300 only. It was raised to Rs. 600 in 1884, to Rs. 1, 200 in 1894 and to Rs. 1, 800 in 1896. The great impact of this on the life of the community can be measured just by one illustration. While the initial strength of the students receiving English education was not even 60, it was 143 in 1881. Of these 90 were Parsis and 53 Hindus. While the strength of the Parsi students thus rose by 50 per cent, the total strength of the educants rose by about 133 per cent.

A singular fact that strikes any reader of this history is that the Parsis who are generally regarded as progressive were against English education as well as co-education. While they compromised on the first issue in the case of male children, they did not yield on the second till very late. The dominance of rural environment could not have been better illustrated than this. Another revealing fact is that the Muslim community of the town failed to avail of this great opportunity. While there were one or two Muslim students between the years 1870 and 1878 in R. J. J. School, there was none in the Madresa till 1884. The cultural level of a community is as much a deciding factor as the urban environment in the community's sharing in the stream of new thought transcending its traditional milieu.

While it is gratifying to note that His late Highness Sayajirao recognized the principle of mother-tongue as the proper medium of instruction in the primary stage, it is difficult to understand the significance of separate Urdu schools for Muslim children in Navsari. Urdu is not the mother-tongue of the Muslims of Navsari, and the medium of instruction in Urdu schools has always been Gujarati. If Urdu schools were to impart religious instruction to Muslim children, and if the Muslim parents of the day had already no Madresas of their own for religious instruction to their children, the Government should have helped them to open these institutions, but no separate primary schools. There does not appear to be any convincing reason for separate schools for the children of Muslim community. On the contrary, such education is likely to become the breeding ground of communalism. Communal institutions of the Parsis did not allow Parsi children to join the Government primary schools and rub their shoulders with the children of other communities. Similarly, children of the Muslim community were segregated from the children of 25 Hindu community with the opening of separate Urdu schools for the Muslims. Segregation of the communities—Hindus, Muslims and Parsis—is evident in the lay-out of the town, the segregation of the Parsis from other communities being more marked than that of the Muslims. Segregation on the basis of locale when aided by the communal educational institutions served as a well-marked dividing line for a community which was hardly urbanized. One of the effects of this development, though indirect, is to reinforce and strengthen the sentiments of exclusiveness, which normally lead to social insulation but to clan feeling during the period of flaring up of the group tensions.

Along with the growth of educational institutions in the town, a beginning was made for similar institutions in the rural area during this period. Primary schools were opened in the villages of Jalalpore taluka which then formed part of the British India since the sixties of the last century. There were schools in Jalalpore (opened on 13-6-1856), in Eru (7-10-1865), Abrama (1-11-1865), Kharsad (1-4-1862), and Matwad (1-8-1868). Those who finished their study in these primary schools appeared for the Public Service examination held at Surat and qualified themselves for the post of talaties, revenue clerks or primary school teachers.

Panar appears to have been a fairly good port in Jalalpore taluka in the latter half of the nineteenth century because there was a custom department. The English-knowing persons in the taluka were in demand for manning services both of high and low cadres in this department. The railway lines were laid in this area between the years 1861 and 1864 and it opened up another employment avenue for English-knowing persons of the district. The railway policy in the initial years of its foundation was to give preference in recruitment to sons-in-law and other near relatives of railway employees. The minimum qualification for recruitment was a certificate of having passed the sixth English standard. Though the Custom Department offered employment opportunity to the Desais of Abrama and Khar-sad, it was the railways which absorbed a very large number of Anavils of the district. That is why even when the Anavils are mainly confined to South Gujarat, there is hardly any station on the Western Railway where an Anavil is not found either as a station master, a coaching clerk or at least as a ticket collector. The various government departments, the custom department at Panar and the railways opened up large potential of employment in both higher as well as lower cadres for the educated. Naturally those who were not satis- 26 fled with the lower cadres in which employment was available on the successful completion of the Vernacular schools tried to go in for English education for prospective career in the higher cadre. English schools were founded in Surat and Navsari and the main drift was towards Navsari because persons from Jalalpore and Eru could easily reach it. On the other hand, there being no all-weather roads between Abrama and Navsari, persons from Abrama and Kharsad found it difficult to go to Navsari. They, therefore, thought of making some provision of English education in their own area.

The first Anglo-Vernacular school was opened in the village of Abrama on March 1, 1884. Though Abrama and Kharsad are 1 adjoining villages within a distance of about 1 /2 miles, another school was opened at Kharsad sometime about 1890. The Government offered grant-in-aid to both the schools. Both the schools worked as competitive rather than co-operative institutions. The reason may be that Kharsad is a village of Desais and some families there—such as Panchgharvala, Navihavelivala—belong to a higher status group among the Desais. The Anavils of Abrama, on the other hand, belonged to the lower group among the Anavils, Bhathelas. The social conflict could not but reflect itself in the institutional development which had immediate and effective influence on the economic prospects of the people.

The second period in the development of education in Navsari taluka is highlighted by the expansion of the Madresa, both qualitatively and quantitatively. The Madresa Committee soon realized that it was necessary to give vocational bias to education and formulated two schemes, one for technical education and the other for commercial education. On February 14, 1887 the Committee requested the Suba Saheb of Navsari to convey to the Government its desire "to teach technical knowledge to the youths of that town with the object of procuring thereby for them a means for their livelihood and at the same time supplying H. H. the Gaekwar's Government with efficient qualified subordinate workmen. " The Committee agreed to bear one-third of the expenses and hoped that the Government would bear two-thirds. The Government did not accept the scheme readily. The Committee was, however, sincere in its desire to implement it at the earliest opportunity and it succeeded with the help of the Tata family.

Later on, Bai Ratanbai Edalji Bamjee offered Rs. 12,500 and the Government offered the same amount for the construction of a 27 building for technical education. Dorabji Tata and Ratanji Jamshedji Tata offered to give for ten years an annual sum of Rs. 1,250 for the maintenance of the institution and the Government donated an equal amount for the purpose. The Government further helped by acquiring the land known as Dubarwada and its frontage which belonged to Bapuji Desai for Rs. 5,000 and handed it over to the Madresa Committee for Rs. 1,000 which the Committee paid from the Jubilee Fund of the Madresa. That is how the site on which the technical institution building was constructed and in which the present S. B. Garda College is housed belongs to the Madresa. The building was declared open on May 16, 1908 and was known as Kaikhasharoo Edalji Bamjee Building. The institution was started on October 6,1908 and was named after Tata, The J. N. Tata Hunnarshala. The original strength of the institution was 25, 12 of whom were Parsis and 13 Hindus. Sir Dorab Tata and Ratan Tata offered Rs. 9,650 and the Government offered an equal sum to construct a workshop and install machinery therein. The workshop came into operation on January 3,1910. Hormusji Shapurji Seervai donated Rs. 9,750 and the Government offered Rs. 2,250 to start a cabinet class as a part of the institution. A Dyeing class run by the Government came to be amalgamated with this institution, the Government offering Rs. 1, 200 annually for three years as its maintenance charge. With the expansion of the institution in such a short time the Government was requested to raise this annual maintenance charge to Rs. 3,400, the Committee having raised its contribution to Rs. 2,950. Thus with a donation of about 60,000 from the Parsi donors, especially the Tatas, and an equal donation from the Government the Madresa turned another milestone in its history that highlighted its golden jubilee.

In its mechanical engineering department the institution offered instructions in pattern making, moulding, fitting, smithy, turning and practical knowledge of handling machinery of an engine and a boiler. The institution was recognised for third class engineering examination in accordance with the Bombay Boiler Inspection Act. In its Dyeing class instructions were given for dyeing fibres and cloth with fast and kachcha colour, printing on chit, etc. and for bleaching the yarn and cloth as well as in the preparation, use and mixing of chemicals used in printing, dyeing and bleaching. In its cabinet class furniture making, polishing, bamboo work and cane Work were taught. In order that the institution may be of service to a large number of students the tuition fee was kept very low, annas eight per month. 28 Between the time the Committee proposed a scheme for technical education and the work in that respect actually started, the Committee opened a shorthand class in the Madresa in 1897. Although the early response to this measure was heartening, 100 students having sought admission initially, the enthusiasm soon eva- porated, the number declining to 20 at the end of the year. The class had to be closed down in 1898 owing to the lack of interest of students. In March 1899 the Committee offered another choice to the students by opening a drawing class which prepared students for the First and the Second Grade Examinations of the Bombay School of Arts.

In 1879, when the Madresa assumed its present character of being an English school for only four higher standards open to students of all communities, there were 48 students. Of these 13 were Hindus. Thereafter, in the following years its strength annually increased. In 1889, it had a complement of 166 students (including 54 Hindus and one Muslim). The years after 1889 witnessed a gradual fall in the number, probably owing to the prevalence of an epidemic, but again in 1895 the strength of the school was 165 students.

During the second period, the number is on the increase. Between 1895 and 1900 the students had increased from 165 to 249, of whom 175 were Parsis. After a slight decline during 1901-1906, the number began to stabilise between the year 1905-08. It again gradually increased from 1909, and in 1912 it stood at 353. The number of Hindu students marked an increase from 70 in 1905 to 181 in 1912.

As the school building was not found satisfactory for the growing strength, Beramji Seervai donated Rs. 12,000 and the Government Rs. 24,500 towards the construction of the present building of the Madresa. The Committee, on its part, donated Rs. 9, 349-12-0, Rs. 8, 258-10-0 from the Camaji's original donation and Rs. 1, 091-2-0 from its general fund. The building was declared open by the then Dewan, Dewan Bahadur Srinivas Raghav Aiyangar, C. I. E., on January 3,1897. Its rear wings were extended in 1912 at a cost of Rs. 19,517 on Beramji Seervai making a further donation of Rs. 10,000 for this extension. The present building of the Madresa was thus completed and put into use on January 1, 1915 and was named Seervai Building. 29

The increasing number of Hindu students in the Madresa clearly suggests that students from villages came to Navsari for further study after completing their primary education in their village-schools or initiation into English in the Anglo-Vernacular schools opened in Maroli, Abrama and Kharsad. This surmise is based on the record of two Anglo-Vernacular schools in Navsari which were the feeder schools for the Madresa. The D. K. Tata A. V. School was the feeder school of the Madresa from its very inception. Sir R. J. J. School became so theoretically in 1892, when admission to its students to the Madresa on completion of the first four standards (V—VIII)* there came to be guaranteed. There were only 13 Hindu students in the D. K. Tata A. V. School in 1895; 48 in 1899; and the number varied between 61 and 64 during the years 1907-12. And they represent students both in the primary divisions and three English classes. The Hindu students in Sir R. J. J. School were 58 in 1912, and the number was much lower between the years 1900-08. The disparity in the number of Hindu students in the two feeder schools and in the Madresa can only be explained on the ground that there were other sources of recruitment or there were feeder schools outside the town. And these were in all probability the Anglo-Vernacular schools or English classes in the villages, though private coaching classes in the town too may have contributed to this number.

Navsari being thus the centre of education for a large number of villages surrounding it, necessity for a hostel to provide accommodation to students coming from the villages was keenly felt. The late Ratanji Faramji Daboo declared a donation of Rs. 17, 500 for the construction of a hostel, on the occasion of the birth of Prince Pratapsimhrao, on the understanding that the Government must offer the deficit and the land required for the purpose. Foundation stone of the building was laid by Khan Saheb Yusuf Ali, the Suba of Navsari, on July 27, 1909 and the Daboo Students' Quarters were declared open on April 11,1911. The Madresa Committee undertook to spend after its maintenance a maximum amount of Rs. 350 annually. The Government undertook to look to the repairs, white- Washing and colouring of the building. 46 boarders were accom- modated in the hostel. Each boarder was charged a nominal monthly fee of rupee one. The fact that the hostel was always occupied and that the Madresa had not to incur any expenses for its maintenance further bears out our inference. In view of the *Roman figures in brackets indicate the new numbering of standards in Secondary schools, introduced recently. 30 great part the hostel played in the dissemination of English education in the taluka, it would not be wrong to look upon the Daboo Quarters as a third milestone in the history of the Madresa. In the year 1895 (12-12-1895) the State Government changed its policy of awarding grants to the educational institutions. In place of the fixed annual grant it now laid down that "the grant will be renewed yearly, and will in no case be greater than the amount subscribed by the trustees or the proprietor. " The income of the Madresa from fees and interest was Rs. 2, 992-11-6 and, consequently, under the new dispensation its grant was reduced by Rs. 507-4-6. The Madresa Committee was thus faced with two alternatives, either to increase the tuition fees or to raise the fund to an amount which would yield interest to make up this deficit of Rs. 507-4-6. As the fees could not be increased without the permission of the Government and as the fund could not be raised in a very short time, the Government was requested to show special favour to the Madresa and the Government, by its Order dated 12-10-1896, maintained the Madresa's grant of Rs. 3, 500 for five years, saying: "It is hoped that at the end of five years' period the trustees of the Madresa will be able to make up the difference between this grant and their income. " The Madresa Committee succeeded in raising its fund to maintain the grant in terms of the new policy. Not only that, but on the occasion of its golden jubilee it succeeded through the helpful attitude of Khan Bahadur Kersasp Rustomji Dadachanji to increase its grant by Rs. 700 per year. The grant was further raised by Rs. 1, 200 per year in the year 1910. In spite of such increases in the yield of interest and the amount of grant, the Committee was forced to increase the tuition fee from Re. 1 to Rs. 1-8-0 in the three higher standards in 1911. The Educational Department recommended in 1921 construction of an adequate science laboratory with its own building. The trustees of Sir Ratan Tata Charities offered a sum of Rs. 25,000 on the condition that the Government should make an equal contribution towards the construction of the laboratory. By the time the Government decided to offer Rs. 20,000 for the purpose the trustees withdrew their proposal. However, Dhanjisha Bapuji Desai and Maneksha Bapuji Desai accepted the Government offer and agreed to pay Rs. 25,000 for the building to be named after their father, Bapuji Merwanji Desai. The foundation-stone of the building was laid on October 6, 1927 which was the day on which the Madresa entered her 71st year. The building was declared open by the late Highness Sayajirao on December 29, 1928. 31 Another development in the educational field in the town was the introduction of English as a subject of study in Bai Navajbai Tata Girls' School in 1918. Higher standard English classes were opened in 1924. The conversion of the School into a secondary school was so to say forced upon the community by the donation of Rs. 4,50,000 (the estate of Baiji Manekbai, daughter of N. R. Tata) by Sir Dorab Tata on her death on the condition that the interest should be used for the maintenance of the secondary classes. In spite of this the community appeared to be lukewarm in respect of English education for females. The school was affiliated to the University of Bombay in 1934, ten years after it was made a high school.

Having so far concentrated our attention on the expansion of the educational institutions in the town, let us now review briefly the impact of this expansion on the population in general and the different communities of the town in particular. In 1880 the total strength of the students in the two schools was 137, which increased to 372 in 1892 and 412 in 1895. The rise was not indeed so great because the strength of the Tata School includes the students in the four primary standards. In 1912 the strength of the student population in the three schools was 724. In other words, between the years 1880 and 1912 it had become about five times.

The strength of the Hindu students in the Madresa, when it assumed its present character, was 13 or 27 per cent. It rose to 3G in 1885 and 54 in 1889, the latter being 32 per cent of the total strength. In 1894 the number declined to 32 or 21.3 per cent. The strength of the Hindu students receiving education in all the three schools was 45 in 1877 (30 per cent), 110 (28 per cent) in 1890 and 71 (19 per cent) in 1892.

In the second period, i.e., 1897-1912, however, the Hindus appear to have fairly increased in number. The strength of the Hindu students in Madresa was 70 (31 per cent) in 1899 and 70 (35 per cent) in 1905. It rose to 94 (38 per cent) in 1907 when the Madresa completed its fifty years. It went on gradually increasing and rose to 101 (51 per cent) in 1912. The number of Hindu students was gradually approximating to that of the Parsis since 1907. As for the strength of the Hindu students in all the three schools, it was 96 (23 per cent) in 1895 and gradually rose to 146 (32 per cent) in 1906 when the Madresa completed fifty years and the Tata School twenty-five years. In 1912 the number was 303 or about 32 42 per cent. It must be noted in this connection that the strength of the Hindu children receiving education must be greater than what these figures indicate because the strength of the Tata School includes Parsi students in the four primary standards and the number of students in these standards must be large enough to vitiate the percentage with which we are concerned. This is in some measure borne out by a comparatively larger percentage of Hindu students in the Madresa.

This is further borne out by another fact. Among the students who matriculated between the years 1883 and 1894 there were 48 Parsis, 23 Hindus and one Muslim, i. e. for every two Parsis there was one Hindu. Among the students who matriculated between the years 1895 and 1912 there were 138 Parsis, 76 Hindus and one Muslim: the Hindus constituted about 40 per cent.

The first Muslim student joined the Madresa in 1884 and the average number has remained at one or two, at times increasing to six. The situation is not different in the R. J. J. School. In the Tata School, however, the number has varied from seven to thirteen. This may probably be due to the fact that the Tata School is in the vicinity of the Muslim locality. The significant fact is that in the long period of fifty years (1863-1912), there was no Muslim student for a period of eleven years, and there were in 1912, only 11 Muslim children in schools the total strength of which was 724; i.e. they formed only 1.5 per cent of the student community. The strength of the Muslim students varied from one to four for sixteen years during this period, from five to eight students for eleven years and from eight to sixteen students for ten years, there being eleven for four years. One Muslim student first passed his Matriculation examination in 1890 and the other in 1896. This disparity in relation to the progress of Hindu students brings out the lack of awareness in the Muslim community of the social, economic and cultural significance of education.

The contribution of the Madresa to the education of Navsari may be summed up by saying that it turned out 353 matriculates and 67 school finals by 1914, i. e. before the First World War. Considering the prospects that were open to the matriculates in those days, the Madresa may be legitimately said to have played a significant role, by bringing education within the reach of even the poor, in improving the economic prospects of the people of the taluka. Of 353 matriculates, 119 were Hindus. The liberal policy of the late 33 Sayajirao had considerably helped to improve the prospects of the Hindu community of Navsari. As for the development of educational institutions in the rural area during this period, an Anglo-Vernacular school was started in Maroli in 1906 through the efforts of Maganbhai Dahyabhai Mehta. The Government offered grant-in-aid to this school and it received monthly contribution of Rs.275 from the Gaekwar Silver Jubilee Fund. It had a good beginning as the original strength of the School is said to have been 100 students. The School, however, did not succeed to make a mark. The reason seems to be, the Anavils of Maroli were interested in running the School for making their children and near relatives eligible for a post in the Railways. More often an Anavil student left the school on completion of the sixth (X) standard. The local people were, therefore, not interested in its expansion into a full-fledged High school. Whenever a proposal was made to open a seventh standard (XI), it was turned down. The area has a large population of Kolis who are backward and who, like the Muslims, were not interested in education. The result was, once a large number of Anavils in the area got employment, the strength of the school began to dwindle.

Govind Balwant Patwardhan Shastri, a landowner of Kadoli, a village nearby, retired as a revenue officer of the taluka in 1922. In appreciation of his services, people collected a fund to commemorate his name and an Anglo-Vernacular school with the first five-English classes came to be opened in 1923 in Maroli Bazaar, i.e., the station area, with this fund. The School was named, The Shastri Memorial A. V. School after Shastri. The original strength of the school was 53. With the emergence of this School the Maroli school which was on the point of being closed down was merged with it, and the School took firm roots. After 1930, the station area came to be developed into a big bazaar and the School began not only to expand but to discharge its main function of disseminating the study of English in the surrounding rural area.

The leading men of Vesma also managed to start an A. V. School in their village in 1910. About 12 pupils joined the School, In 1916, Fozdar Inderji Desai generously contributed and collected a sum of Rs.40,000 which was handed over to the Baroda Government for running the School and constructing a building for it. The building was built in 1921 at the cost of Rs.27,512 and with its instruction the School was put on a firm foundation. In course of 34 time standard fourth (VIII) was added to it and it thus continued to impart English education up to standard fourth till 1948.

With the emergence of these two schools in the two parganas (divisions), a movement was launched for a school in the Supa pargana, through the initiative of the Patidars of the area. Since 1913 the leading members of the village were thinking of a plan to impart English education to their children and the first English standard was opened in 1915. In 1917 it was made a boarding school for the first five English classes (V—IX). The strength of the School was 70. In 1921 the sixth standard was opened. Chunibhai, the then Mamlatdar of the Jalalpore taluka, was the moving spirit behind this movement for English education in this division.

It was conceived that an English school with a boarding attached to it should be started in a central place as would facilitate the people of the villages of the division to take the best advantage of this institution. Supa Vibhag Kelavani Mandal (Supa Division Education Association) was founded in 1921 to bring into existence this central institution. The Mandal as a first step shifted the English class of Supa to Navatalav, a village two miles away, where in the building for a ginning factory the school and the boarding were started. A permanent building for the School was planned to be constructed either between Supa and Sisodra or between Supa and Pardi. The people of Sisodra, however, were not prepared to make any positive contribution to the institution. As a result the School had to be shifted to some place between Pardi and Supa. Madhav- bhai of Supa contributed six vinghas of land for the school building. The people contributed to the war loan, bought for the purpose, to the tune of about Rs. 13, 000 which formed a nucleus of the schoolfund. The Patidars of the area, mainly of Supa, who had gone to Africa showed keen interest in this scheme and they invited Madhavbhai to come to Africa to collect funds for the purpose. Rs. 86, 000 were collected.

It would be evident from the above account that schools came to be opened first in the villages of Anavils. Once they were opened, children of all castes were bound to take their advantage, but the main beneficiaries were Anavils because they formed the intellectual section of the village community and had awareness of the prospects opened by this new learning. 35 The Anavils of Vesma and other places, who had gone to Burma and other places outside India for employment must have found the knowledge of English useful. But more than that English opened up for their children prospective career in India itself. That a large number of Anavils have prospered as lawyers, solicitors, engineers, doctors, college teachers, needs no corroboration. The very fact that in the village of Kharsad with about 150 families of Anavils there are about 50—60 graduates reveals with what avidity the Anavils have drunk at the fountain of learning. With the turn of the century, when schools at Maroli and Vesma came to be opened, a number of lucrative and/or dignified jobs were open even to the matriculates. The spread of education in the villages had economic incentives.

The Supa Boarding School met the needs of the Supa pargana, where the Patidars are found in majority. The Patidars and especially the Matias among them, pressed by poverty, left India for Africa in search of employment somewhere about 1898 or so. Hard- working as the Patidars are, they succeeded and prospered in South Africa. A workable knowledge of English was necessary for their children to equip them to go to Africa to join their parents in their trade. This was an incentive for the Patidars of the Supa pargana to start a school in the area to facilitate acquisition of the knowledge of English. As we proceed in time we find that the members of other castes too encouraged the children of their castes to take English education by opening communal boarding houses and presenting books and tuition fees to the poor members of the caste.

Rural educational institutions were opened in the villages on noncommunal basis at the initiative of the leading men of the village or pargana. The village or a group of villages in the pargana contributed to the foundation and maintenance charges of these institutions which were relatively high for the rural people. It was the community life and the leadership of the enlightened elite that made this great achievement possible. The encouraging response °of the Government in this direction was as much evoked by the enlightened and progressive policy of the Government as by the influence and pressure this rural elite brought on the Government. The role of the Anavils in the progress of education in the taluka is thus significant.

While English education was thus spreading in the villages, Navsari did not cease to be an important centre of education for the 36 taluka. In the first instance the village schools imparted education up to a certain stage, varying from standards four to six (VII to X) only. Secondly, in spite of the fact that schools were opened in the rural areas, the ruralites must have cherished the desire of educating their children in Navsari, where the standard of teaching was defi- nitely considerably higher. It is this fact of pull of the town that explains the emergence of boarding house for village students in Navsari. It is a significant fact that the first Boarding House was opened by the Bhakta Patidars of Dhaman, a village situated midway between Maroli and Vesma where the A. V. Schools existed. On persuasion of Dayaram Sitaram Sura, Bhaktibhai Dullabhbhai Bhakta donated Rs. 10, 000 and a plot of 63 vinghas (35 acres) to start a Boarding House for the students of the Bhakta Patidar caste, and Bhakta Patidar Ashram was started on June 9, 1918 in a building on the Dudhia tank, near the present Water Works. The original strength of the Ashram was 16. The Kelavani Mandal formed to manage the Ashram soon realized that any Boarding House for a small caste was an unnecessary waste, and it resolved in 1919 that students of all castes should be admitted to the Ashram. And as a result, the number increased to 33. This was perhaps a revolutionary step for the caste that was so conservative as would not allow any of its members to accept even water from any other caste, including other sections of the Patidars. Very probably this breadth of outlook in the case of some of the leading personalities of the caste was due to the impact of National Movement which had been organized under the leadership of Gandhiji. The Ashram, however, was faced with economic strains, and with the death of its superintendent who was the moving spirit behind the organization, it was closed down in 1928. In 1933 Gordhanbhai L. Bhakta and Ramjibhai Khushal-bhai made strenuous efforts to revive the Ashram. A donation of 111 vinghas (62 acres) of land was secured. Rs. 25, 000 were collected from the Patidars of the district staying in Africa. A building was bought on Maneklal Road in 1935 for the Ashram and, with necessary changes, it was turned into a boarding house with accommodation for 108 boarders. Besides being a boarding house it was an ashram where students were taught to be self- reliant and take to Khadi. The Bhakta Patidars in general and the organizers of the Ashram in particular having been in the forefront of the National Movement, the inmates of the Ashram played a significant role in the Quit India Movement of 1942.

The Kolis of the district also started a boarding house for the children of their community in June 1917. It was managed by Koli 37 Yuvak Mandal, Surat. The boarding authorities financed some expenses—rent, salaries of a servant and a cook, lighting charges, and the rest was shared by students equally. On April 17, 1921 Shri Mandhata Hitavardhak Mandal, Durban, offered Rs. 4, 000 to this Mandal to buy land or a building for the boarding house. Within five years, 129 students availed of this boarding house and one student graduated himself. The boarding thus played a significant part in bringing education within the reach of the Kolis of the coastal villages.

One thing can be noticed in the development of education in Navsari, viz., that it has always been considered as training of the mind as well as of the body. From the very start of the Madresa physical education was compulsory and the students had to attend to it for about two hours either in the morning or in the evening. With the expansion of the Madresa a provision for Gymnasium was made. The authorities of the Tata School also purchased in 1909 from the Baroda Government a plot of land adjoining the school compound for being utilized for cricket and outdoor exercise. Parsis have lent a special characteristic to the educational institutions, namely the educational buildings are not only commodious and well-ventilated, but have a big open space. The schools that emerged later either in the town or villages were conspicuous for the absence of a big open space and consequent indifference to physical training.

Before passing on to the new phase in the educational development a reference need be made to the fact that English education was getting costlier especially after the First World War. The fees were increased by annas eight in all the standards. This was, however, soon raised to Rs. 2 and Rs. 2-8 respectively in 1923 and again to Rs. 2-8 and Rs. 3 respectively in 1926. And this in spite of the fact that the Government grant was raised from Rs. 5, 400 to Rs. 6, 000 in April 1927. Fees were also raised in the D. K. Tata A. V. School from annas 12 to Re. 1-0-0 in 1914, Rs. 1-8 in 1927 and Rs. 2 in 1931. In spite of such increasing burden of fees the number of students went on increasing and by 1932 it had reached the strength of 1205 in Navsari town only. Such a high rise in number even when four schools in the rural area had come into existence and must have catered to the needs of at least about 300 to 400 students is decidedly significant. This only means that the education, which was till the First World War a privilege of high castes only, had become within fifteen years that followed the War, a privilege of all the castes. In expanding the scope of education vertically, i.e., percolating it through 38 all the layers of the community the rural schools have played an important part.

Education that was initially ushered in by Parsi capitalists became in this second stage, with its expansion in the rural area, both a community sponsored activity and an extensive means of communication. The capital for it in this stage flows not only from the local members of the community but also from those gone abroad for employment, and mainly from the latter. This is natural because the latter having been in prosperous condition are bound to make major contribution to this task. What is striking about it is the remarkably sympathetic and rather encouraging attitude of these persons to the needs of their kith and kin, relatives and village-brethren. This preparedness to help the people in their native place is much more significant as it speaks volumes for ties between a man and his home.

Education started as a communal institution and developed into a cosmopolitan institution. With this its liberating arms began to spread far and wide. Amongst the other trends emerging out of this development is the hostel life for the students. When the caste barriers can be said, in the context of time and place, to be most rigid, hostels played a very important role. While, on the one hand, it helped to bring this new learning within the reach of the most backward caste, a hostel provided, on the other, perhaps the first and single opportunity to bring together members of different castes, high and low, in a community life. It would be difficult to say whether amongst the inmates of hostels caste feeling prevailed or not; very probably it did. Yet the cleavages could not have been sharp and bold enough to negative totally community life.

The introduction of hostels has another significance. It means that the students of the rural area desiring to have education could now have it without incurring heavy expenses and travelling long distance. Having helped the process of dissemination of education among the rural people it prepared fertile clime for growth and development of more and more educational institutions in the rural area. It has thus proved to be an important agency of communication and a useful link between the two sectors, the rural and the urban.

The third phase in the development of education is marked by the emergence of three new schools in Navsari and one in the rural area. But more significant than this is the extension of English edu- 39 cation even to female children of all communities. As we noticed above, English education was made available to Parsi female children as long ago as 1924 through the efforts of Sir Dorab Tata. There was however no provision for education for female children of other communities. C. M. Hathi, Educational Inspector, wrote in his minute in the visit book of the Madresa, on June 27, 1933: "1 found everything absolutely quiet and in excellent working order. Nothing now remains to be desired in this Institution beyond a fervent hope that it will throw its gate open to the girls also as soon as possible. Building is simply grand, and the class rooms plentifully roomy. " The question of admitting female children to the Madresa was posed before the Madresa Committee by the Suba Saheb of Navsari on behalf of the Government in August 1932 who asked them to show reasons why girls were not admitted to the Institution. The Madresa Committee in its meeting on September 20, 1932 strongly protested against this kind of interference on the part of the Gov- ernment in the management of the Madresa. The Committee firmly stated its view that it was against co-education and in the contract entered into by the Committee with the Government in the year 1877 there was nothing binding on the Committee to admit girl students to the Madresa against the discretion of the Managing Authorities. The Government's stand was that the implied condition of the grant was that the beneficiary institution cannot make discrimination on the basis of caste, creed or sex. The Government also held that there being no other facility for intending girls to receive education, and as the Government could not run a separate girls' school for a few students, the Madresa must concede to the implied condition of the grant in spite of the fact that the Committee had no such obligation in terms of its agreement at the time of the contract of the first grant. As a compromise the Madresa Committee agreed that non-Parsi girl students shall be admitted to the Madresa, with the permission of the Committee on the recommendation of the Headmaster. The first batch of girl students—2 Hindu girls—thus came to be admitted to the Madresa in September 1933.

In order to encourage female education the Government regulated that a girl should be charged half the fees. In spite of this the number of girl students was 19 in 1937 and 20 in 1938 in the Madresa. A few more must have been attending the D. K. Tata A. V. School and the Navsari High School. Of these 39 girls in the Madresa, 17 were between the years 12-14, 7 between 15-16 and 6 were 17 years old. It should be evident from the number of girl students going for English education and their ages that not only 40 the Parsis but even the Hindu parents were against co-education. This is confirmed by the following facts. The experiment in coeducation was not given a fair trial in Navsari. Girl students were asked to enter the class after the teacher had entered it. Very often they left the class at the end of every period. They were given separate seats on the first benches so that they may be under the vigilance of the teacher. There was a separate retiring room for the lady students. Girl students' familiarity with boy students and closet- ing of any girl with a male student on the premises of the school during the school hours, gave rise to a mild hubbub running through the school as well as the town. The whole atmosphere was thus surcharged with suspense and apprehensions generated by such an attitude and did not create a favourable climate for the increase of the number of girl students in English schools.

Mr. Bamanji Desai, the Headmaster of the Madresa, who was a pious and noble gentleman, shared the views of the Madresa Committee regarding the admission of girl students to the Madresa. At the same time he stood for the spread of English education among the female children and he was all the while worried about the way out. Madhavprasad Majmudar, his colleague and friend, devised a scheme to start an educational society which could take upon itself the burden of running a separate English girls' school. As a leading citizen of the town, Majmudar could easily persuade the educated men in the town to be the members of the Society by promising to pay Rs. 10 per year for three years. He persuaded the Government to put at the disposal of this society one of its buildings for primary schools for the new girls' school. He thus succeeded in starting a girls' school under the auspices of the Society of which he became a secretary, in a Government school building near Juna Thana in 1938.

Through the active effort of Bamanji Desai, Bapuji Merwanji Desai promised to give Rs. 10, 000 to this School provided the school building to be constructed from this amount was named after him. Shri Dahyabhai Vasanji Marolia promised to give Rs.15, 000 to the school on the condition that the school should be named after him. The Government found these donations too inadequate to meet the desires of the donors. And the Society had to run the school on its own for a year. In the meantime Madhavprasad Majmudar succeeded in persuading the Educational Commissioner, Dr. Jyotindra Mehta, to take over the school and run it as a Government institution. The Government now complied with the request and the school became a Government school in 1939. Raj Ratna Dinsha 41 Daboo donated Rs. 1, 00, 000 to this institution in 1941 on the condition that the School should be named after his mother Dinbai. Later on Daboo is said to have increased his donation in order to enable the Government to construct the building of the school on the site he recommended. In the initial stage the school imparted tuition in the first four English classes. It was expanded every year and thus became a school for first six English standards (V—X) in 1941. Standard seventh (XI) was opened in 1944. The original strength of the School was 119 which increased to 187 in 1943, of whom 79 were in the three higher standards (VIII—X).

In the first year of the School, of 140 students 136 were Hindus, three Christians and one Muslim. Among Hindus 105 were from higher castes of Brahmins and Banias, 21 Patidars, seven other castes and one Harijan. In 1941, of 166 girls, 155 were Hindus, three Christians, two Muslims, one Parsi and five Backward classes. Of the 155 Hindus, 113 came from high castes of Brahmins and Banias, 27 were Patidars, 14 belonged to other castes and one was a Harijan. Thus in the year 1939, 77 per cent of the Hindu students and in 1941 about 71 per cent belonged to high castes. Thus female edu- cation was also more a preserve of the high castes in the initial stages. Of the other castes, the Patidars having a representation of about 16 per cent in the female student population, may not be said to have lagged behind. The only relieving feature is that the lower castes are slowly coming up though much yet remains to be done.

If we look at the age structure of the girls in these two years, we find that in the year 1939, 66 per cent (93) were in the age group of 9-14 and 30 per cent in the age group of 15-16. The corresponding percentages for 1941 are 75 and 21. Girls necessarily have to devote themselves to study before the age of puberty and as such the very high percentage in that age group is significant. Marriages are generally contracted between the ages of 15 and 18 and therefore the percentage dwindles as we look at higher age groups.

Bai Navajbai Tata Girls' School which imparted free education (till 1948) to Parsi girls opened its doors to the students of other communities in 1953, on the recommendation of the Government of Bombay. It is a surprising fact that within two years 216 Hindu girls, 32 Muslim girls and two Christian girls sought admission to this School. In 1955 there were 250 non-Parsi and 190 Parsi girls in the School. It seems some of the Hindu parents regard the attendance of their children at the Tata Girls' School as a hallmark of 42 prestige. It is difficult to say how prestige-complex came to be associated with this School when evidently there is nothing to complain against the management, efficiency or equipment of Bai Dinbai Daboo Girls' School. A new building for the school was constructed in June 1950 at the cost of Rs. 2, 50, 000.

Education was spreading so fast among all castes that the provision at the existing institutions fell far too short of the growing demands. Consequently, this third phase is marked by the emergence of three new schools in Navsari, besides the Girls' school, within a period of ten years. This expansion of facilities for education is all the more significant because not only the rural schools that came into existence in the earlier phase expanded but two more schools were opened in the villages, one of them at Dabhel, a village about a mile from Vesma, and about three miles from Maroli in both of which there were institutions for English education.

The Navsari Boarding School with the first four standards (V-VIII) and a special class for coaching in English for those who passed Vernacular Final examination was started in April 1935 as a proprietary concern by an Anavil and a Patidar both of whom were also teachers in the School. The original strength of the School was 61 in English classes and 45 in the special V. F. class which was a feeder to the English classes VII and VIII. The School was housed in a rented building opposite the Madresa. Within six months, how- ever, the partners clashed and one of them who forfeited his interest in the School opened a new school for the first five standards (V-IX) in June 1936 under the name of The Jubilee A. V. School. The School however could not prosper and was wound up within few years.

The Navsari Boarding School, after the separation of the partners, was named Navsari High School. Standards V and VI (IX-X) were opened in 1936 and VII (XI) in 1937. The proprietors of the School, who were Anavils, arranged to have by this time, i. e. June 1937, their own building for the School on the Dudhia tank constructed at a cost of Rs. 23, 000 on the site of the Shastri Dharmashala which was leased. A little later, in 1941, another building near the School which was rented to serve as a hostel for the School was purchased and utilised for the expanding school, the hostel facilities having been completely closed from 1945. The School was thus set on a firm footing, a fact reflected both in its expansion and the recognition by Education Department of the State in terms of grant-in-aid. From 470 students in 1937 its strength increased to 734 in 1942 when, on 43 students participating in the Quit India movement, the proprietors being staunch Congressmen, the strength declined for a year. But this helped its expansion later on, and we find a steep increase in number from 786 in 1944 to 978 in 1946, and it maintained its strength till 1948, the number being in that year 929, when the emergence of new schools slightly affected its strength. The first Government grant of Rs. 300 was given in 1937: it was raised to Rs. 2, 050 in 1938 and went on being gradually increased till it reached Rs. 6, 000, the maximum, in 1948.

As anticipated earlier the proprietors turned the Institution into a society school in June 1948. The trustees of the Society also took over the management of the Dinbai Daboo Girls' School from June 24, 1951 when the Bombay Government, with its declared policy to transfer Government educational institutions to private societies, offered to hand over the Girls' School to this Society.

As noted earlier, with the emergence of the Girls' School, the Madresa and the D. K. Tata A. V. School had no girl students on their rolls. The Navsari High School, however, continued to enrol girl students, if any parents desired their daughters to join the School, and we find the number of girl students varying between 33—39 during the years 1946-51. It was only when the Society took over the charge of the Dinbai Daboo Girls' School that the Navsari High School ceased to admit girl students. This is significant as it shows that gradually a section of the community, however small it may be, had ceased to have any apprehensions about the co- educational experiment and showed its conviction in the success of it by insisting on the admission of its female wards to Navsari High School even when facility for a separate girl school was provided.

The Madresa continued to draw local students and a few students from particular villages. The Navsari High School, on the other hand, was swelled by students from the villages, though a few local students also sought admission there. As for the local students, they belonged mainly to Anavil, to Modh Bania and to a few other specific castes. Even in villages, we do find that students from particular villages joined the Madresa and those from a specific group of villages joined the Navsari High School. This pattern is an inter- esting fact as it unfolds such factors as caste, group sentiments (in terms of a street, a village or a group of villages), charity-funds, business-relations, etc. operative in the selection of an educational institution for children. The significant contribution of this school is that it drew a large mass of the ruralites in the vortex of new learn- 44 ing, and thus accentuated the tempo of the process of percolation of education through all layers of the Hindu community. And in doing so, it perpetuated the role of the town in disseminating knowledge, even in an age when rural institutions were coming up to fulfill that need.

The Navsari Muslim Education Society opened a Middle School with the first three English classes (V-VII) in June 1944 to meet the growing demand for educational institutions in the town. Though the School was started by Muslim Education Society, and though it was desired that with the starting of this school the Muslim commu- nity that had so far miserably lagged behind the other communities in education should make the best use of it, the School was open to children of all communities. The fourth standard (IX) was opened in 1944 and every year a new standard was added with the result that it became a full-fledged high school in 1948.

The School was started with the help of a donation from the Muslim Education Trust, Bombay, in 1944, and was named Ismail Mohammad Banatwala Middle School. In 1948, the Navsari Education Trust was founded in which I. M. Banatwala had contributed a large share. The Muslim Education Trust handed over the charge of the School to this trust on the understanding that the name of the Society should be prefixed to the name of the School. The School was consequently named as The N. M. E. S. Sheth I. M. Banatwala High School incorporating the names of both the founder society and the later donor I, M. Banatwala. The Trust appointed an educational committee which is the governing body of the School.

The original strength of the School was 87, which increased to 228 in 1946 and to 350 in 1947. The component of the Muslim children was 104 in 1945 (77 per cent) and 165 (47 per cent) in 1947. In other words, it means that the Muslim children availed of the new opportunity that was offered to them in the initial stage, but their interest to make the best of the opportunity thus presented was not sustained, for, instead of increasing from year to year as new standards came to be opened, its Muslim component remained static or showed signs of decline. In 1948 the strength of the Muslim students declined to 153 and in 1949 to 129; but the total strength of the School was on the whole on decline during these years. Though the members of all castes joined the School, it offered the best opportunity to the Harijan students; they numbered 10 in the year 1947 as well as in 1948 and 12 in 1949. 45

The School has its own building which was constructed in part at an estimated cost of Rs. 85, 000. It has also a Boarding attached to it. Both these have helped to build up the School again after 1955.

Sheth Raichand Nemchand, a leading Jain businessman of the town, feeling a great need for an institution which can provide commercial bias to education announced his intention to help the founding of such an institution by offering four vinghas of land and the cost of a school building. The ground having been thus prepared, the Jain Sahayak Mandal of Navsari, founded in 1944 for providing relief to the members of the caste in the stresses and strains of the Second World War, was requested to take over the work of founding and managing the school. On February 26, 1950 the School was declared open which, in appreciation of the donation of Sheth Raichand which was estimated at Rs. 71,000, was named Sheth Raichand Nemchand Jain High School of Commerce. The School had initially two standards only, VIII and IX and a higher standard was added every year so that it became a full- fledged High school in 1952. The strength of the students in the beginning was 62. It did not show signs of expansion with the result that even in 1952-53, when it became a full-fledged High school, the total number of students was 73. The School was situated on the Raichand Road, to the west of the railway station, about a mile and a half off the town. Being thus situated at a place where it could not attract students from the town, it should have proved attractive to students coming from Jalalpore, Vijalpur, Eru and other villages in Jalalpore taluka. It however failed to do so. One of the reasons for this may be that the students attending schools in the town could not be attracted to a new school, and that again with a commercial bias. The authorities, realizing the urgent need of shifting the School to the town to ensure its existence, succeeded in securing an adequate building to house it on Chimnabai Road, and shifted the School there in 1953. The first reaction was satisfactory. The strength began to increase, and in 1955 it was 122. The success was as much due to its new locale as to its able headmaster, Bhagwanji L. Patel. Although "in a town of the size and trading importance and activities of Navsari, a commercial school ought to flourish well, " it was evident that it did not. The Madresa had also tried this experiment and had an equally bad experience. The managing authorities were consequently compelled to turn it into a multipurpose school, having two wings—general education and commercial education, since June 1956. The change was reflected even in the name of the School which now runs as Sheth Raichand Nemchand Sarvajanik High School. The substitution of 46 the word Sarvajanik, public, for Jain may have been partly under the pressure of the Educational Department of the State which does not recognize any communal institution as worthy of being patronised by grant-in-aid and partly the result of awareness on the part of the Managing Committee that no communal institution can flourish even when they are kept open to members of all castes so long as its name blatantly announces it as an institution for a particular caste or community. With this change in the character of the School, the strength began to increase gradually. From 135 in 1956-57 it increased to 174 in 1957-58, of whom 91 were in commerce section and 83 in general education section. In 1950 a sweeping change was brought about in the curriculum of English schools. The teaching of English was abolished from the first three standards in High schools and Middle schools, reducing thereby the teaching of English to four years instead of seven that it used to be so long in Secondary schools. Hindi and crafts were made compulsory subjects instead. This was evidently to give reorientation to the existing educational institutions on the pattern of Rashtriya Shala, the basic-school bias being its important trend. As the teaching of English now began only in Standard VIII, a large mass of students did not join the A. V. schools or Middle schools on completion of their four primary standards. They rather completed their studies in the primary schools where education was free and then joined standard VIII for their English study. Almost all the villages in the taluka had full-fledged primary schools teaching for the Vernacular Final examination. Consequently, there was a considerable increase of students in high schools both in the town and the rural area. That is one of the reasons why there is extensive and intensive expansion of both the town and the rural schools, and the student population in English schools has considerably increased, within the last five years. But while students swelled the higher standards, VIII and onwards, the three lower classes had an adverse impact of this policy. The strength of the students there declined. This situation posed a serious problem of existence to some of the schools which had only three or four English classes. Upward expansion on their part was inevitable for their very existence. The D. K. Tata A. V. School opened standard fourth (VII) in 1952 and standard fifth (IX) in 1956. Sir R. J. J. School opened standard fifth (IX) in 1952. The trend of expansion, extensively and intensively, i.e. in the number of schools and in the strength of students in the existing schools, is evident in the rural area also. Under the inspiration of 47 Kalyanji G. Mehta, a prominent Congress worker of the district, and with a donation of Rs. 25, 000 from Khandubhai Rambhai Vashi of Kadoli personally and a handsome contribution from Indians in Rhodesia through him, the English school at Maroli started on its programme of expansion from 1951. Tenth standard was added in 1951 and eleventh in 1952. In appreciation of the magnanimous contribution of Rambhai Vashi to the School, the school committee decided to join his name with the School and accordingly the School has been known since 1952 as Shastri Memorial R. K. Vashi High School. The considerable progress the School has made under the Guidance of Vashi is evinced by the fact that between the years 1935 and 1944 the average strength of the students varied from 116 to 154, the average being 134. Even in 1949 the strength was 180 which was the maximum in the history of the School. In 1956, students in the four higher standards (VIII to XI) alone numbered 306. For fuller comparison it may be added that the number in two higher classes (VIII and IX) in 1944 was 47. In 1957, 76 boys and four girls were preparing for the S. S. C. examination.

This progress of the School can be explained by an analysis of the agewise and castewise classification of the student population on the basis of data that is available. Comparing the caste representation in the student population between the years 1944 and 1949, it was found that the percentage of the Brahmins and the Banias which was 50 in 1944 was reduced to about 31.5 in 1949. This fall in percentage was counterbalanced by a rise of 7 per cent in the percentage of the Kolis, from 22.3 to 29.1, and of 8. 5 per cent in that of the artisan and other lower castes including the Harijans, from 15.7 to 24.5. The age-wise classification of students in 1944 and 1949 reveals that the percentage of students in the age group of 14-15 and of 16-17 remained almost the same—25 in the latter and 33. 2 and 33.6 respectively in the former. The percentage of the students in the age group of 10-13 increased in 1949 from 20.5 to 27. 7, reducing pari passu the percentage of the students in the age group of 18-19 from 11.3 to 3.8. Thus entrance of students in the school at an early age is evident. In view of the fact that in 1949 the percentage of higher castes was declining and that of the lower castes was on the increase, this change can only be interpreted by saying that education had begun to percolate to the masses, as more and more students from the lower castes joined the School at an early age.

We have no record of the representation of different castes in the student population in recent years. We have collected caste-wise representation of the new entrants to the School for five years, 48 1951-55. That data, however imperfect, can be utilized to show in a broad outline the change in caste representation, if any, during the recent years. Among 420 new entrants during these five years there are 121 Brahmins including Anavils, 13 Banias including Jains 115 Kolis, 46 artisans, 20 other lower caste students including the Harijan and the Halapatis. To reduce it to comparable data, it can be said that the percentage of Brahmins and Banias is 31. 8, of Kolis 27. 4, and of lower castes 15.7. While an increasing number of Patidars, their percentage being now about 20 as against 10 in 1949, have affected the percentages of the Kolis and the lower castes, especially the latter, the percentage of the Brahmins has remained the same.

This caste representation, if valid, can only show that there has not as yet been the required momentum among the lower castes, and especially the Kolis, to get English education. This interpretation may be justified by considering the data from another angle. There is a village-wise classification of boys attending the school in 1944 and in 1956. The comparable data may be presented as follows:

Villages Students in Standards Students in Standards VIII and IX in 1944 VIII to XI in 1956

1 Maroli Bazar, Maroli, Nadod, Mahuvar 24 105 2 Ponsara 0 35 3 Chhinam, Kadoli 11 39 4 Simalgam, Parujan I 37 5 Dhaman — 24 6 Kolasna 2 17 i. Koli villages 6 43 8 Other villages — 17 Total 47 317

Chhinam, Kadoli, Parujan, Simalgam and Ponsara are mainly Anavil villages; Dhaman is pre-eminently a Patidar village; even in the Maroli bazaar Anavils, Patidars and Jains have a major representation. This analysis of the residential villages of the students amply bears out our interpretation of the higher castes being still in the majority in the School. 49 Residents of Vesma and the surrounding villages residing in Africa collected Rs. 25,000 to which a contribution of Rs. 30,000 from the people here was added. An Education Society named Nutan Shikshan Samaj was founded which undertook the manage- ment of the Vesma A. V. School in 1948. The society opened standards fifth and sixth (IX-X) immediately and standard seventh (XI) in 1949, and the School was thus transformed into a full-fledged high school. A. science hall was added to the building of the School at the cost of Rs. 24,000 donated by late Nathubhai Gopalji Desai and late Chhotubhai Prabhudas Sheth. The Supa Boarding School opened its seventh standard (XI) in the year 1937. The schools at Abrama and Kharsad came to be amalgamated under the aegis of Vasant Kelavani Mandal sometime in the beginning of this century and the new school was started as Vasant English School in a building midway between the two villages. In December 1920, the Committee affiliated the School to Gujarat Vidyapeeth and transferred its charge to Rashtriya Kelavani Mandal (National Education Society). The Educational Department having become suspicious of the activities of the School discontinued the grant and cancelled the land revenue remission enjoyed by the School. The educationists of Abrama, Kharsad and surrounding villages, however, managed to carry on this new School till 1923 when it had to be closed. When the members of the Vasant Education Society at Abrama felt the need of reopening the school they succeeded in securing the co-operation of Gangadas I. Patel. The School was restarted on October 1, 1927 with about 70 students.

The task of putting the School on its foot with the minimum resources at its disposal was indeed gigantic. But Gangadas was a man of action. He began from the scratch, but by strenuous efforts, selfless service and strong character he succeeded in consolidating and expanding the School. In 1937 it was made a full-fledged High School. Gangadas not only made the school one of the best schools in the district but he made Abrama an important centre of educational activities. First Dalton Conference was held here in 1932. Surat Secondary Teachers' Association was founded under his inspiration and he became its first President. He also started inter- schools sports competition and conducted summer physical classes. The success of the school was as much due to Gangadas's zeal of a missionary and selflessness of a Sadhu, as to the co-operation he received in his work from Ishwarlal Desai, the Chairman of the Vasant Education Committee. 50 The Committee felt that the School would serve a better purpose if it were given a vocational bias. There was no agricultural school in the district and it was rightly felt that conversion of the School into an agricultural school would provide the need of such a school in the district. In so doing, the Committee, on its part, relieved itself of the financial responsibility to run the School as the Government could be persuaded to take over the charge of the new Agricultural School. The Committee succeeded in its efforts and the first Agricultural School in the district came into existence in June 1946.

Of the 450 students of the Vasant High School 300 were Kolis from the surrounding villages. Its basic contribution thus lies in its appeal to the backward classes which the Maroli School with its equally expansive belt of the Kolis failed to do. The education, acc- ording to Gangadas Patel, had a salutary effect in checking drink habits among the Kolis of the area.

The Muslims of Dabhel and Simlak who have trade interests in Africa have realized the imperative need of some workable knowledge of English for their children to manage their trade. Haji Suleman Ahmed Mia, one of the leading men of the community, when he returned to his village after haj saw that the Muslim children in the village were almost ignorant and were in great need of being given education. He considered that a primary school in the village itself would go a long way to fulfill this purpose. But the knowledge of English being necessary for the Muslim children of the village, the school must give tuition in English at the earliest stage. He offered Rs. 4,000 to start an institution in Simlak which would give education in Islamic religion and English and qualify students for the Vernacular Final examination. The Simlak Muslim Education Institute thus came into existence on July 1, 1947. The Institute was housed in a building bought by the Muslim Jamat for Rs. 25,000 as a property of the mosque. There were private English classes in Dabhel run by Ahmed Ismail Maghera, which perhaps formed the nucleus of this Institute. Initially, there were only the first two English classes (V-VI) and the third (VII) was opened in 1949. In 1950 there were 134 students in these three higher classes. To the seven primary standards the eighth was added later, in 1953, and the ninth in 1954. In the same year the Educational Board succeeded. with the help of donations mainly from Muslims abroad, in constructing at the cost of Rs. 1, 00, 000, a magnificent building for the School in Simlak and the School is housed there since June 1954. 51 Though the School was started by the Muslims mainly for Muslim children, it is not a communal institution, it being open to students of all communities. The Hindu students formed a very small minority, in 1951 there being only eight students (two Dhobis, two Sonis, one Darji and three Harijans of whom one was a girl) in the total strength of 110 in the three higher standards, The number seems to have gradually increased for of the 63 students who passed Primary School Certificate examination during the years 1956-57, 17 were Hindus. The low component of the Hindus is due to the fact that Dabhel Simlak is pre-eminently a Muslim concentration. Among eight Hindu students in 1951 there were only two from outside, one from Asna and the other from Amli. Among the 17 who passed P. S. C. examination, there were only three who were local, the rest being from surrounding villages— five from Dhaman, five from Vesma, two from Parthan, one from Kalakachha and one from Asna. Today in the total strength of 362 students, 31 come from Vesma, 21 from Asna and 25 from other surrounding villages such as Parthan, Vejalpore, Araksisodra, Kalakachha, Dhaman and Samrod. One of the factors attracting students to this School from the surrounding villages is that education is free even at the High school level. That 31 students should come from Vesma, where there is already a High school, is an interesting fact. For sometime the headmaster of the School was an Anavil of Vesma and how far his position is responsible for this could not be ascertained. The current expenses of the School were met by donations, mainly by the Simlak Muslim Education Society, Transvaal, from Muslim Trusts and private donations from Muslims of Simlak and Dabhel abroad and of Surat district here. The contribution of the Simlak Muslim Education Society comes to Rs.35,617 and donations from trusts amount to Rs.30,977. The private donations range round about Rs. 15, 000. The Government grant in the initial stage, i.e., during the first 4 years, did not exceed 18 per cent of the total expenses of the School. The Kolis of the coastal villages had a full-fledged basic primary school at Karadi known as Bharat Vidyalaya managed by Bharat Vidyalaya Kelavani Mandal, Karadi. And it was in a flourishing state, the number of students being 350 in 1949. It was decided to open English standards fourth and fifth (VIII-IX) and they were opened in 1949 with 20 and nine students respectively in the new standards.

Though the general body expressed itself against the expansion of the School in its meeting on November 25, 1950 in a resolution "Taking all facts into consideration only nine standards should be maintained until a fund of Rs.15,000 is collected when the matter can be reconsidered, " the headmaster of the School on his own responsibility had opened standard sixth (X) in March 1950 and then in March, 1951 standard seventh (XI) also. The Committee approved of this in its meeting held on February 27, 1951. The headmaster, however, resigned on April 29, 1951, within two months of the opening of the seventh standard (XI) and four of the six students in the class joined schools in Navsari. The class was thus closed. The number of students in other standards also began to decline; within three months it came down to 70 from 96 and three months later it was reduced to 58. The strength of the students in the three higher standards in March 1952 was 75 which increased to 102 in 1956.

There are certain limitations inherent in the locale for the existence and growth of a Secondary school in this area. A school here mainly caters to the students of six or seven villages—Karadi, Matwad, Samapor, Dandi, Machhad, Bodali and Kothamdi. The people of these villages are so backward that they have not as yet realized the importance of higher education. They are, again, so poor that even when they understand the value of English education, they cannot afford to give it to their children. Any school in this area must have a big fund to enable it not only to give free education but even to provide books to students. And even when the school can do that there is no guarantee that the Kolis of the area will take full advantage of the opportunity, for cases are known of students who left their studies even when they were given books, tuition fees and boarding charges. Students who have their parents abroad generally take education up to the fourth or fifth standard (VIII-IX) and then join their parents.

In spite of this the Kolis of the area who live abroad were prepared to do all they could to run a school and thereby help towards the progress of the children of their caste in this area. The school is therefore run against all odds, and it may be said that it has served the purpose for which it was started. Besides the increasing number of male students who could be educated, 27 girls also have received education because of this facility. It has further served another purpose. In 1951-52 the Society's financial condition was precarious and there was a move to hand over the primary department of the Bharat Vidyalaya either to the Local Board or to Gujarat Vidva-peeth. But it was argued that the primary department was the feeder section of the secondary department of the Vidyalaya and, as such, the two must be run together without any clash between the manag- 53 ing authorities of the two departments. It thus indirectly helped to the survival of the Institute, which after its long useful career was on the brink of extinction.

As a result of the new educational policy, to which reference is made earlier, many schools introduced spinning the yarn as a craft either half-heartedly under pressure or willingly if the proprietors believed in the principles of Gandhiji. Some schools really availed of this change to introduce teaching in some useful art to students, such as tailoring in the Educational Institute at Dabhel-Simlak and carpentry at Bharat Vidyalaya, Karadi. The Managing Committee of the Simlak Institute proposes to introduce such crafts as carpentry, tanning the hides, book-binding, etc. as alternatives to tailoring and as a compulsory subject even in higher standards as soon as the resources of the school permit. The Bharat Vidyalaya at Karadi maintained its vocational bias even in the higher standards when they came to be opened, and carpentry was made compulsory for one period daily.

While the schools in villages were both expanding in size and increasing in number, Navsari continued to be the centre of education in the taluka. This may be amply illustrated by two facts: the opening of communal hostels in the town in this period and the number of village students attending schools in the town. Education among the Kumbhars, as among the other artisan and lower castes was limited owing to their social and economic backwardness. The number of children from this caste coming to the town for English education was small. Some leading members of the caste thought that if some accommodation for boarding was provided in the town, village children of the caste would be helped to take English education. Fortunately Khusalbhai Sukhabhai Mistry of Durban and Dullabhbhai Dahyabhai Mistry of Transvaal had come to their home village and were available to these persons for advice and cooperation. Both were confident that they would persuade Shri Surat Prajapati Association of Durban and Shri Transvaal Prajapati Association to donate the sums which would make this idea feasible. They, on their own responsibility, bought a bungalow on the Chimnabai Road for Rs.7,000 and declared open Shri Prajapati Vidyarthi Ashram on January 25, 1934 for lodging free of charge, students of the caste from villages of the Surat district. Shri Navsari Prajapati Balgopal Bhajanmandal was asked to manage the hostel. Unfortunately, the Transvaal Prajapati Association did not uphold this step of the members of their caste; the Surat Prajapati Association 54 of Durban thereupon donated the whole cost of the building and its repairs.

Though the Ashram was started only to provide lodging accommodation, in about a year's time some members of the caste offered Rs. 125 each to provide free boarding to the inmates. The founders of the Ashram also moved from village to village and collected a sizable amount. On January 26, 1935 a meeting was called to elect a committee which could be entrusted with the work of conducting the Ashram and the Committee so elected was named Shri Vidya-fund Vyavasthapak Committee. The members of the Committee belonged to different villages. This representative character of the Committee, whose members were persons held in esteem by the caste, contributed to the expansion of the Ashram in a very short time. On April 28, 1935 the Surat Prajapati Association of Durban handed over its building to this new Committee which was also empowered to conduct the Ashram. It also promised an annual donation of £23. While few students could be provided with free boarding, others were required to pay for their meals according to their capacity. The secretary, Gulabdas Dayaram Patel, who was not only an efficient organizer and administrator but was inspired with the zeal to work towards the uplift of the caste, managed the boarding of the inmates with Rs.5-6 per month for a boarder, enabling thereby even the poor members of the caste to send their children to Navsari for education.

The secretary understood better the psychology of the people he had to deal with. The community was poor; and even if a few people prospered outside India, the community as a whole was not so much advanced in education as to understand and appreciate the usefulness of English education and contribute magnanimously to make it available to the poor members of the caste. It could, however, be persuaded, if consistent efforts were made, to part with a small sum, provided such a contribution brought to the donor some prestige in his small social circle. Gulabdas, therefore, devised that a boarder would be named after a gentleman who donated Rs.125 for his annual boarding expense. He also promised to print in the annual report the photo of a donor of Rs.150 or yearly Rs.50 to the general fund of the Ashram, which he brought out regularly. Such persons having agreed to pay the extra charge of enlarging and framing their photos printed in the report, the photos were promised to be fixed on the walls of the Ashram. Those who could not make big donations were appealed to make small donations and 55 that too in kind, if they could not afford in cash In the very first year Rs.165-0-6 were accepted in the form of food-grams and Rs.180-4-0 in the form of other things utilized in the Ashram People were approached for donations on occasions such as marriage or death or when they were going abroad or any similar occasions Even such small donations amounted to Rs.1,522-12-0 in the very first year of the Ashram when the appeal to the community was likely to prove least impressive The net result of this policy of collecting as large an amount as possible and spending as little as could possibly be done enabled the Ashram to build up its reserve fund from which it could spare within a period of seven years Rs 22,250, which along with an equal donation from the Transvaal Prajapati Association enabled the Vidyafund Vyavas thapak Committee to invest in a building in Dadar (Bombay) in 1941 Within 16 years the Ashram collected Rs 2, 49, 261-11 2, of which it spent Rs 1, 12 958 4-6 for its running The Ashram started with 14 students The number was 67 in the sixth year, 83 in the ninth, 98 in the tenth and 108 in the sixteenth The peak number was 111 m the twelfth year The average strength of the Ashram was 312 in the first five years, 73 8 in the next five, 98 6 in the third five and 94 6 in the fourth five Recently the number has been above 100 Thus it is evident that the number increased when the strains of the Second World War began to be felt very heavy, i. e 1943 onwards The total beneficiaries of the Ashram within 16 years were 1, 126, of whom 27 matriculated Within 6 years that followed 38 more inmates of the Ashram matriculated

The increasing strength of the inmates as the Ashram became popular compelled the trustees of the Ashram to arrange for a new building for the Ashram The Secretary and another member of the caste, Makanbhai Chhanabhai, went to Africa in May 1953 to contact members of the caste there for collecting a sum which would enable the Managing Committee to construct a building at the cost of Rs 1,00,000 There are 160 families of Kumbhars scattered over 56 towns and villages in East Africa It is a well- known fact that those who have gone to East Africa have not prospered as much as those who went to South Africa. Again, the Kumbhars in East Africa are mainly craftsmen working as car- penters In spite of this, Gulabdas Patel, by visiting every house in person, was able to collect 1,56,805 shillings during this trip of about 6 months when he covered about 3,000 miles A commodious building on the modern style is constructed for the Ashram which now not only provides proper accommodation to the boarders but has been a good investment of the Ashram fund. 56 Though the Ashram owes so much for its foundation and expansion to its present stage to the untiring perseverance of Gulabdas Dayaram Patel, who is an ideal social worker, the significant contribution of those members of the community who have gone abroad and prospered should not be minimised. It generally happens in the caste society of India that, if a particular worker succeeds in building up an institution by working for it with missionary zeal, he soon becomes an object of envy in the eyes of his own people for whom he is working—as the latter cannot bear with the prestige that the worker naturally acquires by his work. Attempts are generally made to bring down the man and with him the institution. It must be said to the credit of the Kumbhars that they have stood by the worker and co-operated with him in the building up of the great institution which caters to the welfare and prosperity of the community. One of the reasons for this lies perhaps in the fact that a vast majority of those who stand by Gulabdas have travelled and have imbibed an outlook which transcends the vision of those staying here in the small groove of caste and being affected by jealousies and prejudices which are inherent in the caste group and rural community.

The Jain community in the town also started a Boarding House for Jain students in June 1945. Maniben, the widow of Devchand Motichand contributed Rs. 50,000 for starting a hostel for Jain students in Navsari and an equal amount was donated by Mangiben, the widow of Fulchand Raichand. The Jain community named it after the donors, Shah Devchand Motichand and Shah Natvarlal Fulchand Jain Vidyalaya. Later on one vingah of land valued at Rs. 27,551 was offered by the sons of Shah Jagjivandas Bhagvanji and Rs. 51,000 were collected for construction of a hostel building. The foundation-stone of the building was laid on December 12, 1949, and the building was declared open on May 1, 1951. The Jain Vidyalaya thus came to be housed in its own building on the station road very near the Sandhakuva police gate. Though the Vidyalaya was started with an idea to provide boarding facilities to the students of Jain community who came to Navsari for education from villages of the district or from area outside the district, it came to be associated with the R. N. Sarvajanik School as its hostel. What is pertinent here is the fact that Jain Vidyalayas are not merely Boarding Houses: the main idea to found a Vidyalaya is to provide in towns and cities ideal homes for the Jain students. Accordingly here, as elsewhere, strict taboos on food observed by orthodox Jains are observed. Religious education for one hour a day is compulsory. Prayer is enforced on the 57 inmates; the Boarding House has a temple within it in which the idol of Shri Chintamani Parasnath was installed on June 15, 1951. The Patidars of Teladi pargana started a hostel in 1951 to enable the students of Patidar caste to stay in Navsari for education in schools and colleges. Though the hostel was initially started by Patidars of Teladi pargana and consequently named Shri Teladi Pargana Lewa Patidar Chhatralaya it is open to all the Patidars, i. e. the Vaishnavs, the Matias, and the Bhaktas irrespective of distinctions of creed. Similarly it is open to the Patidars coming from any village of Surat district. It provides accommodation for 60 to 75 students studying in Secondary schools, or in the college. A building was constructed near Dudhiya tank at a cost of Rs. 70,000. Every boarder is expected to bring with him food-grains and has to pay Rs. 13 to 15 as boarding charges to meet other expenses. For his lodging a boarder is charged Rs.20 per term. The boarding is managed by a Board of 45 members who are elected by the Patidars of 76 villages in Teladi pargana. In view of the fact that about 85 per cent of the students are school-students and that many of them come from villages which have in their vicinity Secondary schools bear out our assumption that these communal institutions are partly the product of people's desire to educate their children in schools in Navsari. A pertinent question to be asked now is: How is it that the student community in Navsari has almost trebled within the last 25 years in spite of the fact that a number of schools have been opened in the rural areas? The important factors that can possibly explain this phenomenon are: (1) Education has spread among all the castes — even the lowliest of the low, and as its base has widened, its volume should naturally be greater. (2) There is an increasing awareness of the usefulness of English education even in the rural area. With their limited resources the rural schools cannot cope up with the present demand for educating a large mass of the rural students that now seek English education. (3) Students from villages within the range of two or three miles from the town come to Navsari. At the same time students from far off villages too come to Navsari either because there are no facilities for higher education in the vicinity or because, in spite of the facilities provided by the village schools, there is yet a feeling among the people and the students of the rural area that education in the town is of a superior order. 58 Let us now examine the effectiveness of each of these factors in increasing the student population in the town. To begin with the first, among the 564 students studying in pre-matric and matric classes (X-XI) in the town schools in 1956, the caste representation is as follows:

Such high castes as the Brahmins, the Banias, the Kayasthas, etc. now constitute only 41. 54 per cent of the student population. The component of the Patidars, the Artisan castes and the Kolis is 15 per cent, 17.56 per cent and 18.85 per cent respectively. The other lower castes constitute 3 per cent. Even in the town schools the caste-wise composition of the student community is more or less the same. The assumption that the base is widened is thus borne out.

In order to test the validity of the second assumption, reference will be made to the student population in all the English classes in the town schools in the year 1952. In a survey, carried out by me then, it was found that of the total students 575 came from surrounding villages. 347 students came from such near villages as Viraval, Kasba, Padga, Kaliawadi, Chovisi, Kachhiawadi, Tavadi, Jalalpore, Vijalpur, Eru, Bhutsad, Italwa, Adada, Tigra, Chhapra, Dantej, Partapor and Mogar. 13 students came from Manekpor, Takoli, Sahu, Ambada, Supa Kurel and Talangpor. 34 students from Hansapor and Mandir who could have as well gone to Abrama, came to Navsari. Similarly, nine students from Vedachha and six from Dambher did not go to Abrama school. 22 students from Amli and 18 from other villages such as Pethan, Vejalpor, Amalpor, Sandalpor, Pinsad and Sisodara, who could have as well gone to Vesma school preferred Navsari. Two students from Sarai, in spite of having schools both at Dabhel and Maroli, came to Navsari. 16 students from Sisodara and three from Ashtagam, Satem and Munsad did not go to Khadsupa Boarding School but came to Navsari. 74 students from most of the coastal villages — Karadi, Machhad, Samapor, Dandi, Kothamdi, Bodali, Matwad and Aat did not go to Karadi Bharat Vidyalaya; instead they came to the town. 12 students from Sagra, four from Mirjapur, Alura, and Karankhat, two from Chhinam, and one from Najar came to Navsari, in preference to Maroli High School, which is so near to them. Thus 203 students do not avail themselves of the opportunities of schools in the rural area in their vicinity but prefer to walk down a distance of four to seven miles to attend schools in the town. 12 students come from villages of another taluka. Thus 575 students from 61 59

villages attend schools in Navsari. To this large number of students coming daily for study must be added a few more, who stay in community hostels in the town and carry on their study in Navsari. Prajapati Ashram alone had 113 students from villages. The Patidar Boarding, the Koli Ashram and the Bhaktashram (which is non- communal) accommodate more than 100 students from a fairly large number of villages. This shows the influence the town schools exercise over the ruralites even today. Our assumption is, therefore, amply borne out.

Classifying the data on the basis of schools attended by these 575 students coming to the town schools, 204 attend the Madresa, 317 the Navsari High School, 34 the D. K. Tata A. V. School, 14 the Banatwala School and five Sir R. J. J. School. The highest number of students are found in the Navsari High School. Of these 317 students 146 are in three lower standards — 66 in English standard V, 38 in standard VI and 42 in standard VII —and 171 in four higher standards. That 204 students should seek admission to the Madresa, which, in the public esteem, is the best school in the taluka and 171 in Navsari High School which has acquired equal prestige by now is a pointer to students' preference for the town schools.

The next question that would emerge from the situation depicted above is whether the increasing number of students from various castes would affect the quality of education. In other words, a large number of students from the intermediate and lower castes coming to the High School will merely add to the number without showing competence for it. For this purpose the first ten students at the secondary school certificate examination between the years 1951-56 from each school were ear-marked. Then all the students Were arranged in serial order according to the percentage of marks they had obtained and a new serial rank was assigned to the students in the town schools and in the rural schools separately. Those who scored less than 50 per cent marks in this list are not considered here. 157 students from the town schools and 132 from the rural schools who scored during these five years 50 per cent and above have been caste-wise analysed. The number of students Per year are 37 (1951), 40 (1952), 43 (1953), 51 (1954), 55 (1955), 63 (1956). There is a gradual rise in the number of students scoring 50 and higher percentage of marks. But the percentage at the higher level is declining, as can be seen from the following table: Years Marks

50-55 55-65 65 and 60 and above above 1951 37.84 35.13 27.03 48.65 1952 20.00 65.00 15.00 52.50 1953 30.23 58.14 7.63 28.56 1954 37.37 52.94 15.68 43.13 1955 30.91 47.28 21.82 45.46 1956 36.61 39.68 23.81 39.68

It is evident from the table that the year 1952 shows the best performance; and the very next year the performance is poor. Then there is gradual improvement and once again in 1956 there is retrogression. The fall of about 6 per cent in the level of 60 and above is counterbalanced by an almost equal rise in the level of 50-55.

To assess this trend in terms of caste, we find:

Total number Marks of Students 50-55 60- Brahmins and Anavils 92 23.91 50.00 Banias-Jains 20 40.00 40.00 Patidar-Rajput... 56 13.29 26.79 Artisans* I 47 17.02 70.21 Kolis 39 46.15 25.64 Other Lower Castes 10 20.00 40.00 Total 289 31.49 43.26

From the above table it is evident that the Artisan castes have come out creditably, having 70 per cent of their students in the level of 60 and above. The Patidars have not made a high mark in that level, but like the Artisan castes, they have small representation in the lower level. Except the Kolis, who have a fairly high representation at the lower level, other lower castes have better performance than the Banias. It can then be said with certainty that whatever else deterioration in standard may be due to, the growing increase of students of various intermediate and lower castes in the student population is definitely not responsible for it.

*Ghanchi, Khatri, Soni, Gola, Darji, Kumbhar, Bhavsar, Kansara, Kachhiy, Suthar, Luhar, Tamboli and Barot. 61 Let us approach the same question with yet another and more elucidating analysis of this performance at the examination. Students are now arranged according to their ranks and the following table presents the number of students (in terms of percentage for the sake of comparison) from each caste in different rank groups. Two separate tables are prepared for students appearing from the town schools and from the rural schools.

The achievement percentage in the case of each caste is to be considered in relation to the representation of each caste in this group of students. Again, the total number of students both from the urban and the rural schools from each caste should be taken while assessing the performance in terms of caste. For this purpose, the table shall have to be redrafted as follows: —

The Brahmins and the Artisan castes stand on the same level in achievement so far as the first five ranks are concerned. Patidars, though below the level of these castes, hold satisfactory position. Patidars, on the other hand, compete with these castes in the second level of achievement (6-10). The performance of the Brahmins in that level is little lower than that of the Artisan castes. The Kolis whose performance at the first level is rather poor have made up at the second level where they top all castes. Considering the first ten students during these 5 years both in the town and in the rural areas, the incoming of the so far unprivileged castes within *Dhobi, Mochi, Machhi and Bhandari. 62 the portals of secondary schools has not in any way tended to lower the standard of education. Rather they have competed quite successfully with the students of the higher castes and held their own. The poor performance of the Banias at all levels is rather striking. Instead of deteriorating the standard of education they have posed a new problem by their competition with the higher castes to which we shall come back a little later.

The period ends with two major developments in the history of education in Navsari taluka. One is the development of technical education and the other is the provision for college education. Technical school, as we have seen, was started as early as 1912. Like the commercial class started and restarted by the Madresa, technical education did not become popular. A stage was reached some time about 1945 when the Madresa Committee was thinking of closing the Hunnar Shala. In the meantime a move for a college caught the attention of the Committee and the building of the technical school was renovated at an estimated cost of about Rs. 40,000 for housing the college. In 1947, however, Sir Homi Mehta donated to the State Government Rs. 1,00,000 to run a technical school in Navsari. The Government accepted the donation and a technical school was opened in a commodious building erected for the purpose near the Water Works. The school offers courses also for S.S.C. examination. With the recent increasing popularity of science courses, there is a great demand for technical education even at the High school stage. The Government has encouraged this tendency by converting High schools into multi- purpose schools. The Madresa was recognized as a multi-purpose school in 1954, and a class was opened for students who chose tech- nical subjects as their optional subjects at the S.S.C. examination. The Navsari High School also opened a similar class. The fact that admission to this class has to be refused now is significant.

Bamanji H. Desai, the Head Master, Sir C. J. N. Z. Madresa and Madhavprasad N. Majumdar, his colleague, conceived the idea of starting an institution for higher education in Navsari. They received a very cordial and encouraging response from the Madresa Committee for sponsoring this institution. The late Sorabji Burjorji Garda made a donation of Rs. 2,00,000 for starting a college in Navsari and the Madresa Committee rented to this new institution the building in which J. N. Tata Hunnarshala was housed. The S. B. Garda College came to be opened in June 1945. 63 It was started as an Intermediate College in Arts but the very next year it was made a full-fledged college with degree course. The science section up to Intermediate was also added in 1946. B. Sc. courses in Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics (subsidiary) came to be introduced in 1948. In June 1949, the College received a further donation of Rs. 2,00,000 from the estate of late Burjorji Pestonji Baria for its science wing which then came to be named, after the donor, as B. P. Baria Science Institute. In 1950, the section in Microbiology was introduced. In 1956, the college obtained recognition as a post-graduate teaching centre.

In the initial stage the College had no hostel. Its students were provided accommodation in the Daboo Quarters attached to the Madresa. The College authorities, however, succeeded in securing from the Baroda Government a loan of Rs.4,00,000 to construct a hostel, and the College built its own hostel on its own site in 1950 at the estimated cost of Rs. 5,00,000, to provide accommodation for 80 to 100 students. Rs. 2,00,000 from the Baroda Government loan of Rs. 4,00,000 for the hostel was soon after declared to be a donation to the college by the Government.

With the grant of Rs.15,000 from the Central Government under the Campus Project Scheme of the Government of India the foundation-stone of the Open Air Theatre was laid on February 6, 1957, which with the shramayagna of 300 students of the College was soon completed. The College, besides providing higher education, stands as the centre of cultural activities of young men and women of South Gujarat (as a large number of students of the College come from villages and towns of many talukas in Surat district) and of the town in particular. The Navsari public shall be ever thankful to M. N. Majmudar and Prof. A. K. Trivedi, Principal of the College, for their contribution to the wide extension and equipment of the College in such a short period. So shall it be indebted to Bamanji Desai for initiating this movement and the Madresa Committee for ready response to this move even when it entailed a heavy liability, only with a view to meet the educational demand of the town community. The contribution of the Committee is all the greater when we realize that the Parsi community is the least beneficiary of this institution.

The college commenced functioning with 82 students in F. Y. A. and 16 in Int. Arts. Next year the Science wing was opened with 101 students in F. Y. Sc. and 11 in Intermediate Science. In 1957, 64 there were 693 students in Arts classes and 575 in Science classes. From the year 1951-52 new entrants to Arts wing began to increase, and the increase was phenomenal, being 526 in the year 1955-56. As against this increase of students in Arts classes, the increase of students in Science classes was both late (from 1955 onwards) and slow — in the ratio of 1: 5 as against 1: 7 in the case of Arts classes. This disparity which is general and mainly the result of limited accommodation provided in Science classes has also been due to two other factors. Those who want to pursue their studies in medicine and engineering colleges generally join colleges in Baroda and Anand in the hope of getting entrance to their desired courses with comparative ease, even when it means additional economic burden on their family. Secondly, a large number of employees, particularly in Government service avail themselves of the opportunity offered by the starting of this College to improve their prospects by graduating themselves, attending their classes in the morning before going to work. 'Learn while you earn' has been made possible now-a-days for Arts graduates in quite a few Indian cities and towns.

The social and occupational background of the student popu- lation of the College reveals some interesting trends:

Community-wise the Hindu students constitute 86. 2 per cent of the student population; Parsis, 6.3 per cent; Muslims, 4.9 per cent and the Scheduled Tribes, 1.7 per cent. Evidently this is not a fair representation of the various communities in the town as well as the district. The percentage of either the Parsi or the Muslim population in Navsari is definitely much higher. It is true that the percentage of Parsi population in the district area from which the students come to the College is lower than that in Navsari. In spite of this, the representation is defective. It is quite possible that the Parsi students generally choose to go to Bombay for higher educa- tion. But the Hindu students of the area do not necessarily join this college; many of them, especially those choosing science subjects, prefer to go to Anand or Baroda and, to a certain extent, also to Ahmedabad and Bombay. Muslims in Navsari have all through lagged behind in the field of education, and looking to their number in Secondary schools this is rather a hopeful and encouraging performance. The entrance of the members of the Scheduled Tribes to the portals of schools and colleges is a recent phenomenon, and hence the representation of this group among the students, though insignificant compared to its strength in the population, is indeed a

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e culture i Prie r cial S rvic echanics uardia g ccupat o n Busine Blank S O o G A Se Learned Professions Artisans; Crafts men; M Retired; H Work T Grand T Caste Brahmin- 189 187 29 44 _ 12 1 35 497 26 523 Anavil Bania- 12 30 9 56 ____ 1 4 112 11 123 Jain Patidar 70 24 1 9 2 106 4 110 Rajput- Kayastha- Bhatia 4 9 3 7 1 2 26 4 30 Artisan & Functional castes I* 6 25 39 51 121 4 125 Artisan and Functional castes II 4 6 — — 14 — — — 24 1 25 Koli 52 23 3 3 3 — — 2 87 4 91 Bharwad 2 1 — — — 3 1 4 Backward 14 18 1 2 3 38 6 44 Castes and Harijan Unspecified 2 1 ______3 _ 3 castes Maha- 7 3 ______10 1 11 rastrians Sindhis 2 1 — — — 3 — 3 Parsis 14 21 2 4 6 5 — 17 69 11 80 Muslims 24 15 5 11 1 — — _1 57 6 63 Christians 7 1 1 — — 1 10 — 10 Scheduled Tribes 12 6 1 1 — — 2 22 — 22 Total 405 381 57 176 80 17 2 69 1187 80 1267

striking fact for which the credit must rightly go to the College and the Government. Hindus form nearly seven-eighths of the student population. This is due to the fact that even the functional and the lower castes have now entered the precincts of the Temple of Learning. The higher castes still continue to hold the privileged position in as much as they comprise 60 per cent of the Hindu students and 51.6 per cent of the total college students. The Patidars and the Rajputs constitute 12 per cent of the Hindu students; the Kolis, 8. 3 per cent; Artisan Castes I, 11. 4 per cent; other lower castes, 6. 3 per cent. That education has percolated even to the lower and the lowest layers of the Hindu society in the realm of our review is thus clearly evident. This conclusion gets further strength on comparing this pattern with the one observed elsewhere in Gujarat, the M. S. University of Baroda, in 1953-54. * * I. P. Desai, Journal of M. S. University of Baroda. 66

Caste M. S. University College in Navsari Brahmins 34 per cent 47. 8 per cent Banias 29 „ 11. 2 " Patidars 20 „ 10 " Other Castes 15 " 29. 9 "

The other castes in this area almost double their counterpart in the M. S. University of Baroda. The variation in the proportion of the Banias and the Patidars is probably due to the higher percentage of these castes in Baroda and the surrounding area from which the main bulk of the students in the Baroda College hails.

The number of girl students in Arts and Science classes, when they were first opened, was 24 and three respectively. In 1956, it is 156 and 28 respectively. The number of girl students is on the increase and a comparative rise in the number of college-going girls is natural. Yet it is doubtful whether the girl students in this area in such a large number could have succeeded in receiving college education if there had been no facilities for it—which now exists through the founding of this college. The important role of the College in spreading higher education in the sectors neglected so far is self-evident.

Of all the 1267 students 1187 have specified the occupation of their parents or guardians. The occupational classification in the above table is based mainly on the type of activity pursued by the guardians. On the basis of 1187, 34.1 per cent of the students are farmers' children. The percentage in reality is still higher because about 40 students have stated that their parents are retired or en- gaged in work at home. They being children belonging mainly to the agricultural castes, some at least of the parents must be engaged in agricultural operations. The parents of 4. 8 per cent of the students are either doctors or lawyers and those of 14. 8 per cent are businessmen. The parents of 8. 1 per cent of the students follow their hereditary occupation, craft or allied craft. The occupational pattern of the students here corresponds in the main to that of the students in the M.S.University, except in one respect, namely, the representation of the agricultural community in the students' population in the M. S. University of Baroda is only one-fifth as against one-third in our area. This is mainly due to the fact that as against Baroda which is a city, Navsari is a town and the pull from the rural or semi-urban area on Navsari side is much greater than that in the case 67 of the M. S. University of Baroda. This is clear from the following table giving the locality from which the students of the college come.

Navsari—Local 480 Other villages 69 Area beyond Tapti 10 Villages of Vedchha to Vapi 332 Surat 27 Navsari Taluka 347 Sachin-Udhna 2 Total 1267 Two-fifths of the students are local students; 28. 5 per cent come from the villages of the taluka; about 33. 25 per cent from such small towns as Amalsad, Billimora, Bulsar, Gandevi, Chikhli, Pardi, and villages surrounding them. Only 2. 23 per cent of the students come from the city of Surat. The literacy standard of the parents or guardians is not recorded; it is consequently difficult to say precisely the influence of education exercised through this channel in the growth of higher education in the town. The occupational classification may serve to give a rough indication of the educational level of the guardians of the students. Of those who are engaged in service 83 are teachers, 17 are in Railway and Postal services and five are in Police and Judicial services. Three persons hold high offices in mills. Thus nine per cent of those engaged in service must have received education beyond the level of matriculation. Others have not specified the nature of their service to enable us to infer their minimum education. Granting that the few of them may have reached the matriculation level, the percentage of the matriculates would be slightly raised. Among businessmen 39 belong to the functional castes, three are Kolis and nine are Patidars. In view of this the percentage of those among the businessmen who have reached the matriculation level can in no way exceed seven per cent. Of the retired persons, especially from the higher castes, many may be fairly highly educated, but these persons would not constitute more than three per cent. Among the agriculturists a few may be educated. It is difficult to lay down the number of such persons in this category, but five per cent of them may be supposed to be educated. Thus, the maximum percentage of persons having reached the matriculation level can be 33 to 35. The parents of about two-thirds of the students, on these premises, are not highly educated. On the basis of the fore-going analysis it can be said that the educational facilities now provided both in the rural and the urban sectors of our area, and the founding of a college in Navsari have helped to spread education among the sectors neglected so far, though the representation of the higher castes in the student com- munity is still higher than their proportion in the population. Great rise in the number of girl students and a large number of ruralites 68 in the students' population bear this out. The occupational background of the students' parents and their literacy standard reinforce the soundness of this observation.

It is said that "Castes, level of literacy, occupation and income are the factors that enter into the composition of University students They are the agencies selecting the entry of the students to the University. "* The higher castes with higher levels of education— and amongst these higher castes were also included the higher income groups—were in a favourable position in the past to avail themselves of educational opportunities. Although the same situation continues to a great extent even today, desire for education spreading in the lower strata of the society is obvious. The emergence of a fully-equipped college in a small town satisfied the urge for education of this section and thus tended to generate a situation in which the role of these agencies as a selecting sieve becomes less decisive.

Education is not only a means of economic betterment but it carries with it considerable prestige—not only for the individual who has received it but also for his family and his caste. An educated man stands a chance of making a good marriage even if his economic status is not high. His status in the caste group is raised on his own achievement. That also helps, and particularly if there are two or more educated children in the family, to add to the prestige of his family in the estimation of his caste as well as the local community. The members of lower castes avail of it to shed the stigma of belonging to a low caste. The demand for education is increasing among the intermediate and the low castes even though the cost of it is increasing and even though the opportunities for the employment of the educated are declining. This situation invites serious conflict between the higher castes who have reaped the best advantage of this education and those who seek to dethrone them from their privileged position with a view to claiming equality, economic as well as social. Adult franchise has given a fillip to the aspirations of the lower and the lowest castes who form a vast majority in this area, and their aspirations are fanned by politicians because of their number. Possession of higher education overshadows caste distinctions generating at the same time new class tensions essentially generated by economic competition and desire for social equality. This is given a new edge by the obliteration of the rural and the urban dis- tinction in the population of our survey.

* I. P. Desai, op. cit.