Every important event in Anil Sadgopal’s life has its roots in a classroom. He says if he were 17 today, he wouldn’t have done what he did as an aspiring botanist at St Stephen’s College in Delhi five decades ago.
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A panel of academics resisted admitting him to the prestigious college because he had been educated in the Hindi medium. Sadgopal insisted on being interviewed until he was told, through a note scribbled on a piece of paper, that he had been rejected. “I returned that piece of paper to the panel and asked them to stamp their decision on an official letter, explaining the reasons why they were denying me admission.” The panel was appalled, but the young man had a ready explanation: “I will take this chit, take a bus straight to Rashtrapati Bhavan and ask the President why we ever fought for our independence when I don’t even have the freedom to study in my mother tongue.”
Ten minutes later, the “Hindi-medium” student of science from Birla Vidya Mandir, Nainital, had been admitted to St Stephen’s College to study botany and biochemistry.
From then on—1957 onwards—he dedicated himself to fighting for a host of issues, including children’s right to education, learning in one’s mother tongue and teaching science in government schools—a struggle that won him the Jamnalal Bajaj award in 1980.
The 69-year-old botanist-turned-educationist spent two decades teaching before he finally made a small, creeper-lined house in Bhopal his home. He had a brief teaching stint at Delhi University and then taught science in government schools in the villages of Madhya Pradesh’s Hoshangabad district. Along the way, he served long tenures as member of various government-appointed committees, including the Central Advisory Board of Education (Cabe), where his role was to recommend academic reforms in the education system.
After a five-year gestation period, the legislation to make education for children in the 6-14 age group free and compulsory was passed by the Lok Sabha last week. But in contrast to the generous welcome the legislation has received in most quarters, Sadgopal’s newspaper editorials and sit-in protests on the law are full of dissent, in keeping with his record of speaking up when he feels he has to.
The Bill, in his words, is “a law to snatch away the rights of children” since it only guarantees right to education for children in the 6-14 age group and creates “layers of education” with its classification of government-run and private schools.