About School

Sadhana Education Society was founded in 1961 to fulfil the educational requirements of students from middle & low income groups of the suburbs of Mumbai (then Bombay). A dedicated team of social workers & educationists worked on this ideal headed under the stewardship of Late Shri Vishnuprasad Desai (Ex-Mayor of Bombay), Late Smt. Kapila Khandvala (Retired Education Officer & 1^st lady Deputy Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay), Late Dr. Madhuri Shah (Retired Education Officer, writer & 1^st lady Chairperson of the University Grants Commission& UGC Review Committee)and Late Shri C. M. Trivedi (Bar-at-Law & Chief Public Prosecutor, Bombay). The motto being ‘it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness’ which was reflected in the emblem / maxim / logo “PrajvalitoGnyanmayPradip”.

The Society commenced its educational journey by setting up the Sadhana School of Educational Research & Training – a College of Education in July 1962 (renamed Smt. Kapila Khandvala College of Education in 1977).  Due to shortage of funds & the need for accommodation, the institution moved from one place to another during the early stages – Sarvodaya SwasthyaSadan, Ghatkopar. Thanks to the efforts of Late Shri Vishnuprasad Desai, a plot in the heart of the Western suburbs – Santa Cruz (West) was obtained, constructed in phases and thus, the institution has its own premises since 1964.

In 1965, though small the institution had its own practicing school with students of Std. V to Std. VIII called the Sadhana Experimental School. The medium of instruction was Gujarati & English. It was a special school for experimenting on the problems on methodology & secondary schools under the guidance of the staff of the School of Education.

With the growing demand from the near-by residents, in the year 1967, Sadhana K. G. Classes were started & in 1968 the Primary Section was started. Thus, the school became a full-fledged school from the year 1968 – 1969 with 2mediums Gujarati & English. The Sadhana Experimental School was renamed in 1968 as Sadhana High School with the 1^st S.S.C. batch of100 students appearing in March 1969 & clearing with 98% results at the Board Exam.

By the year 1971 – 1972, the construction of the present 2 storey complex was complete housing the School of Education & the three sections of the school namely the Pre-Primary, Primary & the Secondary Sections.

In memory of the late daughter of Balraj Sahni, the Sadhana K. G. Classes were renamed Shabnam Balraj Kindergarten in 1975.

The L. S. Raheja College of Arts & Commerce was established in the year 1980, with 175 students admitted to the two (02) divisions in Commerce & Arts was added.

In the year 1981, the names of the school sections were changed to SES’s Punya Stuti Primary School & SES’s Harshul Prerna Secondary School.

The Sadhana Education Society celebrated its Silver Jubilee in the year 1985 – 1986, &in pursuance of the informal play way methodology & to commemorate this occasion the Punya Stuti Nursery School was established in the year 1985.

To fulfil the lack of a recognised institution for training Pre-Primary school teachers, the Malti Jayant Dalal Charity Trust donated funds to setup the Malti Jayant Dalal Institute for Pre-Primary Teachers’ Training Programme in 1986 – 1987 under the able stewardship of Mrs. Jayshree Kapil. It was later renamed as Malti Jayant Dalal’s Centre for Pre-Primary Teacher’s Education & affiliated to the Mumbai University leading to a Diploma in Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE). This course was made autonomous in the year 2001 – 2002 as the Mumbai University decided to discontinue the course. This course was unfortunately closed down in 2011 – 2012.

In 1988, the Sadhana Education Society started a Centre for Integrated Education for concentrating primarily on students having learning disabilities – Hearing Impaired & Slow Learners so as to make those students functionally independent. It was called the Malti Jayant  Dalal Centre for Integrated Education. The curriculum was made flexible& pre-vocational skills were also taught. With a dedicated team of Special Educators, Psychologists, Speech Therapists & a Yoga Teacher, the centre strives to integrate these students into the formal stream of education.

Due to lack of admissions in the Gujarati Medium class & the parents wanting their children to study in the English medium, the Gujarati medium was gradually closed down with no new students being admitted to Std. I in 1994-1995. Thus the Gujarati Section in the Primary closed down in 1998 – 1999. In the academic year 2002 – 2003 a new English medium division was started in its place. In March 2002, the last batch of the 24 Gujarati Medium students appeared for the S.S.C. Board Exam. The detained students reappeared as Private candidates &all of them cleared the Board exams by March 2003.

Since 1990, all the three sections of the school have become a part & parcel of the Sadhana Education Society’s Malti Jayant Dalal High School viz SES’s Malti Jayant Dalal Nursery School & Shabnam Balraj K.G. – Pre-Primary Section, SES’s Malti Jayant Dalal High School – Primary Section & SES’s Malti Jayant Dalal High School (Secondary Section).

Beginning humbly with a small number of students in the English & Gujarati mediums, at present the total enrollment in the 3 sections is 1625.