Sikh Educational Conference (Sikh Educational Committee)

"Sikh Educational Committee" is the name this page carries for the Singh Sabha era effort to spread schooling among Sikhs. No outside source opened uses that exact name. The sources document two bodies that did the work: the Chief Khalsa Diwan, founded on 30 October 1902, and the Sikh Educational Conference formed from it in 1908.

How it began: The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says the Sikh Educational Conference was formed in 1908 at the instance of Chief Khalsa Diwan leaders such as Sundar Singh Majithia and Harbans Singh Attari. They had attended a session of the Muhammadan Educational Conference at Karachi in December 1907 and came back with the idea of a similar body for Sikhs. Besides pressing for Punjabi in Gurmukhi script, it did much to promote Western-style education among Sikhs. Its annual sessions moved from town to town, with kirtan and poetry contests as well as talks on education.

Its leaders: Sundar Singh Majithia took a leading part in founding it and presided at its sessions in 1911, 1924 and 1935. He was secretary of the Chief Khalsa Diwan from 1902 to 1920 and again from 1934 to 1937.

Key moments

• 30 October 1902: the Chief Khalsa Diwan is founded at Amritsar, aiming among other things to open schools for men and women.
• 1906: the Diwan opens the Khalsa Pracharak Vidyalaya at Tarn Taran to train ragis, granthis and preachers.
• 1908: the Sikh Educational Conference is formed. In the same year Master Sundar Singh Lyallpuri joins Master Tara Singh to teach at Khalsa High School, Lyallpur.
• 1911, 1924 and 1935: Majithia presides at the Conference's annual sessions.
• Before 1926: Sardar Teja Singh Samundri sets up a Khalsa Middle School in his village and Sri Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa High School at Sarhali, near Amritsar, and the Khalsa Diwan Bar opens more schools. He died in custody on 17 July 1926.

Where it stands: The Encyclopaedia says the Conference still continues as an active wing of the Chief Khalsa Diwan, in an entry from its 1990s edition.