A Mother’s Sacrifice Inspired Sanjay S. Gowda’s Vision For Better Education For Children

 Sanjay S. Gowda is no stranger to personal loss. He started his career in 2012 after finishing his Masters in Business Administration degree, which his mother insisted he should complete. Despite losing his father at a young age, Gowda’s mother took charge of the family’s survival and Sanjay was happy when he got a job. He wanted to earn a good living so that he could look after his family. Unfortunately, in 2017, he lost his mother to Stage 4 Metastasis Endometrial Cancer.
Life halted for Sanjay, but not for long. Amidst personal grief, he found his mission in life, which was, in a way, a promulgation of his mother’s philosophy – good education is the only means to a better future.

 Today he is the chairman of the Vardhaman Public School, which is one of the renowned pre-school institutions in and around the town of Sira. This shift, from being an MBA and working in the corporate sector to the field of education came after Sanjay was invited to a series of annual school day functions in the capacity of Chief Guest. 

In 2018, he also conducted a parental orientation programme for more than 1,000 parents, whose children were studying in different schools in the area. This meeting helped Sanjay understand what was needed to fill up the gap in the education sector as far as young children are concerned. And that is when Vardhaman Public School was born in Sira.

Born on September 17, 1987, Sanjay grew up in a close-knit, middle-class2 family, where his father was the sole earning member. He grew up with two elder sisters and his father, Sh. B. Shankarananda & his mother, Smt. P. Vedavathi. When his father passed away, Sanjay was studying for Bachelor’s degree. It was his mother who took charge of her family’s survival. She inspired her children to study so that they could make a better life for themselves.

It was his mother’s sacrifice that remains at the back of Sanjay’s mind when he undertook the mission of creating a unique education system, which should create bright young minds of the future. That is the mission of Vardhaman Public School. When the pandemic struck in 2020, children all over the world were forced to study through online classes. Just a year before, in 2019, Sanjay had attended a webinar about parental role in the education of their children, held in Chandigarh. 
Together, these experiences inspired him to start writing in renowned Kannada language magazines about the merits and demerits of online classes as well as how to be an ideal parent in these difficult times. When he also began writing daily articles in Sanjevani newspaper, under the column “Education Corner”, his writings were well-received and he found many fans in the public. Eventually, Sanjay also launched his own magazine “The Best Parent”, for which he writes editorials and opinion pieces regularly. In order to spread his views about the role of parents in their children’s education and future, Sanjay has also been invited to a number of T.V. debates.

So far, Sanjay is recognized as an upcoming figure in the field of education in Karnataka and his vision is pan-India because he wants to spread the light of education across the spectrum in the country. For his outstanding contribution to education sector and his social service, Sanjay has been felicitated and honoured by a number of schools and colleges across Karnataka.