The Messiah for the Rural Children

Sanjit Roy: A Leader Transforming Indian Education.

Sanjit "Bunker" Roy, director of Barefoot College in Tilonia, is a pivotal figure in bridging the educational divide between rural and urban India. Despite 67 percent of the population residing in rural areas, the centrally planned Indian economy has widened the gap in education delivery and living standards over the past six decades since independence in 1947.

Roy's journey began in the early 1960s when witnessing a famine in rural Bihar deeply moved him. As an alumnus of the prestigious Doon School and St. Stephen’s College, Roy was determined to tackle the development challenges of rural India. In 1972, he founded the Social Work and Research Centre (SWRC) in a remote, arid area of Rajasthan. Over time, SWRC evolved into Barefoot College (BC), which now operates 714-night primary schools for 235,000 children in 673 villages across five states. BC also trains illiterate and semi-literate villagers to become proficient (though intentionally uncertified) solar and water harvesting engineers, hand-pump mechanics, architects, blacksmiths, and weavers.

Roy asserts that Barefoot College is unique in being the only educational institution globally that "consciously follows the teaching, life, and work style of Mahatma Gandhi, who envisioned an India of self-sustaining village republics."

In a remarkable global initiative, BC has trained over 225 rural women from 26 developing countries as barefoot solar engineers through its Grandmother Women Barefoot Solar Engineers (GWBSE) program.

However, despite its international acclaim, Barefoot College is less known within India, where a traditional, teacher-centric education model prevails. With the middle class and media often overlooking rural India, the public remains largely unaware of BC's innovative development model. If scaled up, this model has the potential to significantly enhance rural productivity and incomes, thereby transforming the Indian economy.