Devika Meghe, managing trustee, Meghe Group of Schools (MGS, promoted by Meghe Group of Institutions — estb. 1987 by Congress party leader and Lok Sabha member Datta Meghe) and president of the Radhikabai Meghe Mahila Shikshan Sanstha which launched MGS’ first school, the Vimaltai Tidke Convent, Nagpur in 1987.
Newspeg. Four new pre-schools under MGS’ School of Scholars brand name (the other brands are International School of Scholars and Vimaltai Tidke Convent) have been promoted in four talukas of Maharashtra viz, Hinganghat and Arvi (Wardha district), Dhamangao and Morshi (Amravati district). They will admit 100 pre-primary students each in June this year.
Institutional objective. “In keeping with our motto of ‘educating the masses’, we want to educate each and every child in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, as also adult illiterates. Since 2009, School of Scholars, Gadchiroli has been sending its children to Madeytukkam village in Gadchiroli district to conduct basic literacy programmes for adult illiterates on weekends. Other schools run by the group have also adopted villages to run literacy programmes. We are determined to launch a movement to eradicate illiteracy in the Vidarbha region,” says Meghe.
History. Since admitting its first batch of eight students into the Vimaltai Tidke Convent in 1987, MGS has expanded to 23 schools with the parent MGI running a total of 27 educational institu-tions including professional colleges such as the Yashwantrao Chavan College of Engineering and Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Sawangi, Wardha; Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences (deemed university), Wardha and NYSS College of Engineering and Research, Nagpur. Moreover under the brands of Vimaltai Tidke Convent and Junior College, School of Scholars and International School of Scholars, over 20,440 students are tutored by 700 teachers in MGS schools.
Future plans. “Our constant effort is to upgrade our institutes. Within the next five years, our newly launched pre-schools will be converted into fully-fledged K-12 institutions. From the next academic session, we will also introduce international exchange programmes for our teachers to give them international exposure which will enable them to introduce global practices into our schools. Sports education is also given great importance in MGS and MGI institutions. Recently we inaugurated a cricket academy for MGS in alliance with the Vidarbha Cricket Association Sports Academy,” says Meghe.
Swati Roy (Bangalore)