Leveraging a Legacy...
The vision of starting Salwan Public School at Mayur Vihar was that of Mr. Shiv Dutt Salwan. The dream of getting quality education was translated into action on August 5, 1996.
A beautiful bud came to life amidst sweltering heat in the barren part of Delhi. We planted hope and grew happiness. The local community overwhelmed with joy. It was a humble beginning with just 36 children on roll; a single storied building with very small infrastructure; a single teacher and the only peon.
Those were the days of trials and tribulations; of mosquito bites, pools of muddy water; adverse conditions and hard days. But Rome was not built in a day. Inspite of rainy days, we never grumbled, nor allowed the children to suffer at any cost. We had let our wings of aspirations spread out in the open sky to catch the sun. Our children were like butterflies; slowly spreading their plumes tinged with rapturous colours of ideas, energy and ecstasy of promises, passions, pranks of curiosity, consideration and compassion.
By dint of toil, patience and perseverance, our efforts were crowned with success when our children presented the 1st Annual Show on 15th December 1996. It was a humble beginning. The Chief Guest Mr. K.K. Bhasin, Director of Education, Delhi Administration lauded the efforts after watching the show.
The process of growth and change was visible in every field, be it academics, co-curricular or sports. As the new millennium ushered in, the new wing of the school building for the seniors soon came into being.
In 2003-2004, the first batch of class X appeared for the C.B.S.E Boards and created a landmark by securing 100% result. Vibrant changes were conspicuous with development of new laboratories of Science, Computer, English and Math. And in the session 2005-2006, the first batch of class XI joined the institution. Since then the institution has never looked back and has won all the challenges the life has offered.
The Founder
Girdhari Lal Salwan was born in the year 1902 in a remote village of Kartarpur, Punjab, in the family of Pandit Mool Raj Salwan. After the early demise of his father, he was left in his early twenties, to bring up his entire family of six brothers and one sister. Having completed only his primary education, Pandit Girdhari Lal Salwan worked hard with little means to earn his livelihood. The cruel hand of death snatched away all his brothers in their youth one by one and it was now on the shoulders of Girdhari Lal Salwan to bring up their families along with his own.
In the year 1921, G.L.Salwan moved to Peshawar, Pakistan to set up his furniture business as an ordinary carpenter, toiling hard. Honesty and perseverance became the cardinal principles of his work. It was in the year 1936; circumstances overtook the education of the minorities in Peshawar. He vowed to impart education to all – to the neediest of the needy – free of cost.
The year 1936 saw him set up the first Salwan School at Sardar Cantt. Peshawar, where over 800 students studied. In the year 1947, during the partition days his social instinct, concern for poor, charitable work and a commitment to quality education brought appreciation from many quarters.
Founder's Philosophy
“The best quality of a teacher should be his sense of justice and impartiality. All children should be equal to him whether they are rich or poor, Hindu or Muslim, high or low… A son of a peon should be in no way inferior to my own son. You should educate the children so that they may feel proud and confident of themselves. They should not consider themselves inferior in any way to the children of any other school.
I am committed to the cause of education. Education for all… whether they can afford it or not. “
Late Pt. Girdhari Lal Salwan,
Founder, Salwan Education Trust
