Girijashanker Badheka,
generally known as Gijubhai, the most outstanding
personality in the field of pre-primary education,
was born to Bhagwanji and Sm. Kashiba of Vala
in Saurashtra at Chittal 9Saurashtra) in the house
of his maternal grandfather on 15 November 1885.
He had his early education at a primary school
at Vala and later passed the Matriculation from
Bhavnagar around 1905.
He joined the Shamlals College, but had to leave
his studies incomplete and go to East Africa in
1907 to earn a livelihood. On his return in 1910
he studied law in Bombay. He started practice
in 1911 as a District Pleader and in 1912 he enrolled
himself is High Court Pleader. He, married twice,
first Sm. Hiraben (19020 and after her death am.
Jadiben (1906).
Gijubhai’s maternal uncle Hargovind Pandya
had a great influence in moulding his mind and
character. Another strong influence was that
of S. P. Stevens, a solicitor for whom Gijubhai
worked in East Africa, who taught him self-help
and reliance.
Solicitude for the education of his first son,
Narendrabhai (b. February 1913), led Gijubhai
to see the child education classes conducted
under the guidance of Motibhai Amin at Vaso,
Gujarat, where he was presented a Gujrati book
describing the Montessori method of education.
That first attracted him to organize child education
on similar lines. In 1915 he assisted in drafting
the construction of the Dakshinamurti, then
started as a hostel at Bhavnager. In 1916 he
left legal practice and joined the Dakashinamurti
as Assistant Superintendent. He drew the attention
of the Superintendent, Nanabhai Bhatt, to the
fact that the boarders had to study in old-fashioned
schools.
To remove this anomaly the Dakshinamurti was
converted into a teaching institution with Gijubhai
as the Acharya (Principal). Simultaneously Gijubhai
trained his son according to the Montessori
system. This convinced him about the need to
the begin at the very beginning, and the Dakshinamurti
Balmandir, a pre-primary school, came into being
August 1920. Gijubhai’s contribution was
evolution of a system of child education suitable
to Indian environment, training teachers and
creation of suitable literature for children,
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teachers and parents
Gijubhai’s system liberally borrowed from
the educational philosophies of Montessori, Frobell,
Dalton and others and oriented the admixture to
fit Indian requirements. Freedom and love were
the twin principles around which the system revolved.
With the introduction of equipment for sensory
development, coupled with the use of music, dance,
travel, story-telling and play-ground as instantly
acquired popularity with children and parents.
In 1925 the first Pre-Primary Teachers’ Training
College (Adhyapak Mandir) was started at Dakshinamurti
to meet the need for qualified teachers. Gijubhai
also turned his attention to children’s literature
and wrote simple short stories, nursery rhymes
and tales of travel and adventure. He produced
more than100 works which still retain their importance
and many of them have been rendered into several
other Indian languages.
In 1925 Gijubhai, along with Sm. Taraben Modak,
started editing a Gujrati monthly, the Shikshan
Patrika. His frank and fearless criticism of the
existing methods of education created a sensation
in Gujrat. For the propagation of the new system
of child education among the masses, conferences
wee organized in 1925 at Bhavnagar and in 1928
at Ahmedabad.
Gijubhai was partly responsible for the entry
of Harijans into the Dakshinamurti. He also assisted
in making arrangements for the farmer families
who were abandoning their homes during the Bardoli
Satyagraha. He initiated the concept of the ‘Vanarsena’,
a battalion of children satyagrahis who made life
impossible for the Government officials in the
1930 Movement. Under Gijubhai, Nanabhai and Harbhai,
the Dakshinamurti, located in the territory of
sympathetic princes, came to be regarded as the
training-centre for dedicated freedom-fighters.
Gijubhai also conducted Adult Education Campaign
in 1930.
In 1936 Gijubhai left the Dakshinamurti due to
a difference of opinion and started the Adhyapak
Mandir at Rajkot. Constant overwork had ruined
his health, and he died on 23 June 1939. Proverbial
affection for the children earned him the title
‘Maochhali Ma’ meaning mother with whiskers.
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