Vivekananda Uttar Buniyadi Vidyalaya of Vankunwa village in Waghodia ranked 3rd best school leaving behind urban schools

A rural school in Vadodara district which has been operating in the foothills of Pavagadh in Waghodia taluka since 1991, provides education to the students by providing training in farming and tree plantation in the institute premises as well as computer training in advanced computer labs.

Vivekananda Uttar Buniyadi Vidyalaya of Vankuva village was established by Anuben Thakkar and Dr. Vikram Patel and the board of trustees of Muni Sevashram Trust, Goraj. The school ranks third among the best schools in the state behind the state-of-the-art urban schools and received an incentive prize of Rs 2 lakh. On Tuesday Gujarat education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama honored the school.

Following the ideals of Gram Swaraj of Mahatma Gandhi, this school has adopted timely modernization. The use of solar energy has increased but the school has been using solar panels for cooking and heating for students since about a decade ago.

The area connecting Vadodara and Panchmahal districts is mostly inhabited by families engaged in subsistence farming, employment in industrial units, or farm labor. Anuben Thakkar established this school about 30 years ago with the goal of imparting good education to children. Principal Balwant Singh Zala said that most of the students studying in this school are engaged in good jobs or have a business or employed. The students are happy that this school has made them self-reliant through education.

He said that various criteria of 100 marks have been fixed for the best school. Schools that get more than 75 marks at the district level in these criteria can participate in the state-level competition. The fact that this school achieves progressively higher results in Std 10th and 12th results has also been taken into consideration for this award.

Students enrolled in the school have to stay in the hostel compulsorily. There is a nominal charge for tuition, accommodation, and meals. The organization runs this school for the upliftment of society with the help of the most generous donors and well-wishers.

A large number of mango, sandalwood, cardamom, rudraksha, and other medicinal plants are grown on the premises. Thus, they strive to create an environmental-friendly generation that connects students with nature.

The late Anuben Thakkar started the country’s first state-of-the-art cancer hospital in Goraj, a rural area, and institutions and activities for health, education, girls, and welfare of elders. The school is also a part of it and is instilling service values ​​and self-reliance along with education.