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Human Values organised by Sri Sathya Sai
Institute of Educare A ONE-DAY Seminar on
Human Values was organised by Sri Sathya Sai Institute of
Educare, Nemilicherry, on August 1. Every year the school has
been organising a seminar on human values, for the schools and
the main objective of the seminar is to provide an occasion for
the teachers and students to contemplate on the importance of
values in human life. The seminar also ventures to encourage
team work by the teachers and students of classes VIII to X and
to prescribe new solutions for the modern ills in the light of
values of Sanadhana Dharma.
The participating schools form a team of five students and the
team will work together under the guidance of a teacher to
prepare a paper on the prescribed topic. The topic for the
seminar was ‘Purity, Patience and Perseverance - the three steps
to Divinity'. The seminar was inaugurated by
M.Yoganandham, Joint Secretary, School Education Department. He
expressed his views on the importance of Value Education in
schools and requested all the institutions to introduce value
based system of education. K. Saimeera, Principal, SSSIE,
Chromepet, congratulated the schools whose papers were selected
for presentation, shared her overviews and gave a brief
description of the methods of evaluation of the seminar. The
Prashanti flag was hoisted by Professor R. Balasubramanian,
Dean, Sri Natesan Vidyasala. P. Kumaraswamy,
correspondent of the school, welcomed the gathering. V.K.
Subburaj, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare
Department, stressed on teaching Human values in schools and
protecting them. He appreciated the institution for taking
efforts in implementing Value Education in their system. Florent
C. Pereira, General Manager, Kalaingar TV, addressed the
gathering. Prizes and certificates for participation were given
to students by Mr. V.K. Subburaj and Mr. Florent C. Pereira.
S.C.S. Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chromepet, was
given the Award for Excellence for the best paper presentation.
- Published in The Hindu (Downtown) on August 8, 2010 Moulding young minds with care
Wholesome development of the students'
personality is what Sai institutions strive for.
Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Educare, at Nemilichery, in Chennai's
outskirts, is no exception, reports MALATHI RANGARAJAN.
EVEN AS you alight at the Chromepet Railway Station, Chennai, a
local person tells you the way to Sri Sathya Sai School in
Nemilichery, a village about three km from the station. (Ph:
044-22651726; email:
sssieducare@gmail.com). The institution is slowly
becoming a landmark in the area. And striving to make this school
that follows the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
system, an institute of excellence is a whole team of dedicated
staff, a dynamic Correspondent and a diligent Principal.
"Knowledge should not be a marketed commodity. It's the duty of
society to make it available to every individual. Education has to
be free at all levels and for everyone. If you can give it only
for a fee, there's no point in giving it at all, is what Bhagwan
Sri Sathya Sai Baba believes. And we have reached that stage with
Baba's blessings," says P. Kumarasamy, Correspondent of the Sathya
Sai School.
So like all other Sai institutions, the Nemilichery School that
was till now offering free education to students in stages, will
extend total free education from Class I, from the coming academic
year. Also co-education will be only up to the Class V level. From
Class VI onwards only boys will be admitted, Kumarasamy informs.
"I had wanted to work in this kind of school and with Baba's
blessings it is a reality," says A. Sathyanarayanan, the young
Principal of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Educare. Sathyanarayanan,
a former student of Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning in
Puttaparthy, had wanted to begin a school of his own on the lines
of the Sai System of Education. A chance meeting with Kumarasamy a
few years ago, led to his taking up the post of Principal in the
kind of school he had aspired to begin. When it was first
started in 1978 it was called Sri Sathya Sai Matriculation School.
But as Sai institutions place great importance on the development
of the body, mind and soul of the student, they transcend the
level of being mere transmitters of textbook knowledge. Hence the
school rightly decided to rename itself as Sri Sathya Sai
Institute of Educare, from January this year.
As education in the Sai system cannot but be integral, besides
the challenging academic stream of the Central Board, the school
also lays stress on the indispensable aspects of personality
development, such as yoga, meditation, universal prayer, value
education, confidence-building skills like public speaking, art,
craft, computers, dramatics, dance, music, sports, games, karate
and social work — all these with affection and reverence as the
bottom line.
Those familiar with the pattern of education in Sai schools
know that "the medium is Discipline, and the first, second and
third languages are Love, Service and Sadhana".
Besides free, integral education, they repose strong faith in
the gurukula system. So they prefer residential education. (A
reasonable amount is collected for boarding and lodging) Hostel
life teaches young minds to share, care and adjust themselves to
community living, the schools believe. "Moulding the personality
of a child is easier in a residential ambience," they say.
"The atmosphere in a school has to be congenial for us to
realise our goals. Our philosophical base helps us in that," says
Sathyanarayanan as he narrates the case of a 10-year old student.
"When he first came here we were very worried. He was a very
headstrong lad and was always found quarrelling with others.
Today, he is one of the softest students around," smiles
Sathyanarayanan . "The love and care that was missing in his home
he has found here," he adds. "Kathir (name changed) was another
problem child. His initial resistance to adjustment of any sort
even made us feel that it would not be possible to have him in the
school for long. However soon the kindness and understanding that
he got here changed him. Now he does not wish to lose it at any
cost. He is another obedient child whom we are proud of. The CBSE
pattern ensures a strong, common standard. Our labs are well
equipped and we have experienced persons with us like Ramachandran,
who was formerly with Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan School, who helps
with our Maths lab and S. Gomathinathan, retired special officer,
ELT, offering expert advice. And every lesson, be it Maths,
Science or English, we feel, should teach the child a value.
Balavikas training and a Diploma certificate course in Moral
Instruction are part of our other activities ... Can you believe
it, I just received a call from Bhopal enquiring about admission
for next year."
As Kumarasamy goes on you notice his fondness for the school
and his affection for the students. "Parents should realise that
beating up their children will lead nowhere. Only kindness and
concern will help. Attaching undue importance to academic progress
alone could put too much pressure on the child. Sri Sathya Sai
Baba always says, `Remarks mean more than marks.' And that's what
we believe in," concludes Kumarasamy.
- Published in The Hindu on Feb 13, 2004 |
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Education is for life News
“Real education flows from the heart and is termed as 'Educare'.
There is a lot of difference between 'education' and 'educare'!
Educare is the basis and foundation for all types of education.
Educare is the adhara (support) and education is the adheya
(supported). All the texts we read teach only education to us.
But, this is totally inadequate. We must pursue educare along with
education,” says Sri Sathya Sai Baba. It is with this ideal as its
driving force that the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Educare aims to
mould children through secular and value-based education into
human beings worthy and responsible to lead society.
The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Educare, which follows the CBSE
pattern of education, is situated in the laidback rural atmosphere
of Nemilichery, near Chromepet. It was started on Vijayadasami
day, 1978. The school offers free education from classes LKG to
class-10 with one section each and a compact strength of 30 per
class. Co-education is offered only up to class-5 with boys alone
from classes 6-10.
School correspondent Kumaraswamy is very passionate about the
institute and its image. He says, “Sri Sathya Institute of Educare
follows the Sai system of education, which emphasises free,
residential, and value-based integral education.”
He quotes Sri Sathya Sai Baba on education. Education, he says,
is not a commodity to be sold in the bazaar. Society has the
responsibility to make education available to all individuals.
“Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Educare provides free education from
LKG to class-10 with voluntary contribution from well-wishers of
our school.”
Ok. But why have a residential form of education, especially at
the school level, in a metropolitan city?
“In the residential system, an institution has sufficient time
to mould students and work upon each aspect of their personality,
individual trait and social behaviour through various programs
integrated with hostel life. It helps mould children as a whole.
That is why Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Educare offers residential
education from classes 6-10. However, the school also has day
scholars.”
All schools around the city have a ‘moral science’ class that
offers moral education on values and ethics apart from ‘secular’
education. Where is the difference?
The dedicated faculty believes that today education is not only
incomplete but also needs to be wholesome. “Education is for life
and not for living”.
“Value-based education is of the essence,” voices Kumaraswamy.
“Value-based integral education encompasses secular education
moulded around education in human values. The core is education in
human values. That is the difference. Value education (VE) classes
are conducted to mould character of children and infuse values.
Children of all classes take active interest in VE competitions.”
In fact, as a part of heir everyday schedule, silent sitting
and Jyothi meditation are practised by students to improve their
power of concentration and bring about total transformation.
Children of the primary section are asked to maintain a spiritual
diary, monitored by parents and teachers. Students of classes 6-10
are asked to maintain a self-analysis record.
The school goes to lengths creating and maintaining case study
registers for every child wherein overall personality traits are
recorded.
At the macro level, inter-school seminars on human values are
conducted annually wherein a rolling shield is awarded to the best
team.
Service to society is an important lesson that is taught to all
students. In fact, the students of the middle and higher sections
of the school are encouraged to participate in social service.
‘Grama seva’ is conducted in neighbourhood villages every year on
Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s birthday, which falls on November 23.
To identity with the source of their inspiration, a spiritual
visit is conducted every year by all students and staff to
Puttaparthi to have Sai Baba’s darshan and blessings.
Features of the School
The management believes in offering quality education, and
emphasise it by the use of hi-tech teaching aids such as PCs, OHP,
LCD projector, and so on. The school can boast of a well-equipped
library with more than 3,000 books on various subjects. The
library subscribes to various periodicals, magazines and
newspapers to provide up-to-date knowledge on current affairs.
The institution promotes learning through visual aids such as
educational CDs and video cassettes.
The school also has well-equipped Physics, Chemistry, Biology,
Maths, and Computer Science laboratories to enable better
understanding with practical knowledge of the subjects.
The management strongly believes that all work and no play
would dull the sheen of any genius. Hence, weekly competitions are
held. There are four houses named after the primary qualities that
the school fosters in its students Sathya, Dharma, Shanti and
Prema.
Children are given ample opportunity to exhibit their creative
talents. To promote personal skills and talent Veda, music, dance,
and bhajan classes are conducted. Classes on yoga, silambam,
karate and the keyboard are conducted after school hours by
qualified instructors.
The school rightfully acknowledges 100 per cent result in
class-10 exams every year. Prizes are won by children in Balavikas
(value education) and various other competitions at the district,
zonal and state levels organised by the Sri Sathya Sai Seva
Organisation.
Kumaraswamy has a vision of attaining the ISO SAI 2006 award
this academic year (2007-2008). The ISO SAI 2006 is the
certificate awarded by the International Institute of Sathya Sai
Education for the school that is competent in VE at the
international level. There are many schools around the world that
foster and spread Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings on human values.
The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Educare is jointly managed by
the Sri Sathya Sai Trust, Tamil Nadu, and by the Sai Educare
Trust.
The management can be contacted at Sri Sathya Sai Institute of
Educare, Nemilichery, Chromepet, Chennai – 600044.
E-mail: sssieducare@gmail.com
Phone: +9144-22651726
- Published in ChennaiOnline on Nov 13, 2007 |
