Previous Year Question

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was associated with the formation of the Deccan Education Society.

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, Tilak and his associates worked towards establishing educational institutions to promote modern education with a national outlook in Maharashtra.

An early step in this effort was the New English School, Pune, started in 1880 CE through the efforts of Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mahadev Ballal Namjoshi. Other educationists, including Gopal Ganesh Agarkar and Vaman Shivram Apte, subsequently became associated with this educational effort.

To give these educational efforts a more organised and permanent form, the Deccan Education Society was formed on 24 October 1884. Its prominent founders included Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Vishnushastri Chiplunkar, Mahadev Ballal Namjoshi and Vamanrao Apte.

The Society aimed to promote education that was managed by Indians, comparatively accessible and capable of contributing to the intellectual and public awakening of society.

Soon after its formation, the Society also entered the field of higher education. Fergusson College was opened at Pune on 2 January 1885 and developed under the management of the Deccan Education Society.

For Tilak, education was not merely a means of securing employment; he also regarded it as an important instrument for developing political and national consciousness among the people. Education, journalism and public activity were interconnected areas of his early public life.