Lucknow schools closed today as mark of respect to Jagdish Gandhi

Lucknow: All private, Anglo-Indian, and missionary schools in Lucknow will remain closed on Tuesday as a mark of respect to noted educationist and founder of the City Montessori chain of schools, Jagdish Gandhi, who is no more.

Gandhi had been struggling with health issues for the last 25 days and was in the intensive care unit where he breathed his last on Monday. He was 88.

“This is an immense loss. The condolences of the people associated with the education world are with the bereaved family,” said president of the Unaided Private School Association Anil Agarwal, announcing closure of all schools.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also condoled the death of Gandhi and prayed for peace to the departed soul.

Apart from being a renowned educationist running the largest chain of schools, Gandhi was also a former president of Lucknow University Students’ University (1958-59), served as an independent member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Sikandra Rao constituency from 1969 to 1974 and served as a prominent leader of Baha’i community.

He is survived by his wife Bharti Gandhi and four children Nita Gandhi Forouhi, Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, Sunita Gandhi and Vinay Gandhi.

Born on November 10, 1936, in Barsauli Village, Sikandra Rao, Aligarh, his father Phool Chand Agarwal was a Lekhpal and his mother Bansmati Devi was a homemaker.

Moved by the death of Mahatma Gandhi, a young Jagdish Agarwal decided to change his name to Jagdish Gandhi and follow the path of the father of the nation throughout his life.

He did his schooling in Aligarh and Mathura and completed his B.Com from Lucknow University in 1959. The same year, he opened the City Montessori School at Station Road with just five students. Gradually, the school went on to become an institution with maximum number of branches.

With 22,612 pupils, the school made its way into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest school in 1999. Presently, the school has 21 branches and nearly 62,000 students.

It has also won ‘distinctive school’ award by the 2002 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in recognition of its efforts to promote universal values of education for peace and tolerance.

IANS