Dayanand Bandodkar High School, Gokuldem (Gokuldem / Goculdem)

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Dayanand Bandodkar High School Gokulde, established in 1994 by Shri Prakash S. Velip, He himself headmaster in his own School.All Teacher in His School working Very hard for good result. His Student Shri Pradeep Bhiva Gaonkar from Kajugottow is working in Department of Information and Technology Porvorimthe Dnyandurga educational society, under whose aegis the Dayanand Bandodkar high school came into existence in 1994. Until then, the students of the villages of Barcem, Gokuldem, Cajugotto, Kiscond, Vavurla and surrounding villages had only one school to go to — the government high school in Padi, which entailed trudging a distance of 12-15 km.

"Lack of motivational support from parents would result in a lot of drop outs. The students had a desire for education, but the means were hard to come by. We were determined to change the situation on the educational front in the tribal-dominated rural area," Velip told STOI.

They began with a Class V classroom that was run from a house of a local farmer, Fondu Gaonkar, with 33 students and three teachers. Over the course of time, they purchased land admeasuring 15,000 sq m in Gokuldem, largely through funds raised from donations by the public, and built a modest school building.

After overcoming all teething problems, the school ran into a major obstacle. "After the first batch had reached the seventh standard, the government came out with a policy decision not to give permission to open new high schools," said Velip, who retired in 2013 after serving as the school's headmaster for 17 years. "This decision would have meant great injustice to the students in their thirst for knowledge and education for their better tomorrow. We challenged the government's decision in court and after a protracted legal battle, the court directed the government to grant us permission to enroll students for Class VIII."

The school now boasts of a second building, constructed after availing government grants of 15 lakhs, apart from a large playground and a spacious conference hall.

"The school has consistently posted good results with an average 70% students passing the SSCE in every batch," Velip says, his eyes gleaming with pride. "Mind you," Velip adds, "it's not a mean task; as all our students belong to the under-privileged section of society."

"We had started this school with a mission. Mahatma Gandhi always exhorted the youth to go to the villages and serve the villagers. Our objective was to make available basic educational opportunities to the students of this rural area which they were hitherto deprived of. And we have been largely successful in meeting this objective," Velip said, as a matter-of-fact.

The Gyandurga Educational Society now wishes to expand the ambit of its mission to "providing quality education" to the rural students on par with their urban counterparts.