Textbook of 8th class includes lesson on Fatima Sheikh; Know who she was

The Andhra Pradesh government has included the contributions of Fatima Sheikh, the first female Muslim teacher of India and social reformer, in the textbook of 8th class. Fatima Sheikh was a colleague of Jyoti Rao Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule, a renowned social reformer who worked for girls’ education.

Jyoti Rao Phule and Savitribai Phule both stood against caste system and male supremacy. It is said that it was Fatima Sheikh who facilitated the Phule couple to start the first all-girls school at her home in Poona, Bombay Presidency.

In 1851, they established two schools of their own in Mumbai. Fatima Sheikh used to teach in the schools run by the Phule couple. Fatima Sheikh was born on January 9, 1831. She had got training as a teacher with Savitribai Phule from an institution run by Cynthia Farrar. She made efforts to free the underprivileged of the community from the Indian caste system to study in the local library. However, Fatima Sheikh did not get the recognition she deserved.