ANDHRA PRADESH :
On January 5, the first statue of Fatima Sheikh, who was one of the first Muslim woman teacher in modern India, was unveiled in the premises of Zilla Parishad Urdu High School, Emmiganur town in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district.
Fatima Sheikh was one of India’s finest social reformers and educators. She is believed to be the first Muslim woman to teach modern education in the country.
Jyoti Rao Phule and Savitribai, a well-known couple of social reformers who fought to promote girls’ education, were known to have lived with her.
Fatima Sheikh is credited with allowing the Phule couple to establish the first all-girls school in Bombay Presidency at the former’s home in erstwhile Poona.
She taught at all five of the Phules’ schools. In 1851, she established two schools in Mumbai on her own.
Fatima has played an important role in teaching Dalit children at Phules’ School.
Fatima’s statue was donated to the school by Mr. Nakkmittala Srinivasulu. Smt. Patnam Rajeswari took the lead of this programme and High School HM Mr. Kondaiah, Teacher Mrs. Jeba, Social activists N. Vijyalakskhmi, Mr. K. Jeelan, Mr. Parashi Asadulla, Smt. Prbhavathamma, Teacher Mr. Md. Khadeer (Kurnool), writer Mr SVD Azeej (Kurnool) and good number of students took part in the Programme.
Earlier, the Andhra Pradesh government added a lesson on Fatima Sheikh’s contributions to the eighth-class textbooks.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Education> Indian Muslim> Women / by Muslim Mirror / January 05th, 2023