Integral Education S I S T E R S C H O O L S FEBRUARY 2006 The Golden Chain
With this issue we start a new series of reports on schools which are trying to follow the system of Integral Education. We hope to be able to draw the attention of the wider community of all those who are connected with the Ashram on this very important work which has been going on for a long time now. This new form of Education is an invaluable contribution to nation building. One can say that it is even going beyond that, to the preparation of a more conscious and refined humanity since Integral Education is being attempted in countries outside India such as the U.S.A. We begin with Mother’s International School in Delhi since it is the oldest of such schools, opened when the Mother was still in her physical body, and which is celebrating its Golden Jubilee this year.
If there is a real success story then it is surely this one. While most of us have been pursuing our personal dreams, there is someone who has been working silently in Delhi for the last thirty years fulfilling a dream of the Mother and by doing so fulfilling the dreams of thousands of families who want an all-round education for their children. Yes, you have guessed right. It’s Tara, steering the Mother’s International School. Even though the founder and initiator was Surendranath Jauhar, Tara’s father, it is Tara’s dynamic presence that has taken the whole project on to another level.
It has been acknowledged as one of the best schools in Delhi and has figured among the top ten in the country in surveys carried out by leading national magazines. It wasn’t without reason that the Indian Government chose it as the school to take visiting dignitaries to. And that is how some of us were happily surprised to open the newspaper one morning to see a picture of Cherie Blair, wife of the British Prime Minister, visiting this school.
The prospectus clearly states that the school aims at giving an education which draws its inspiration from the teachings of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. There is no ambiguity about it, nor are words being said for the sake of sounding grandiose. The words are there in black and white: “ …to seek, to realize and spread as best as possible the Integral Education of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in its fivefold aspects: the physical, the vital, the mental, the psychic and the spiritual.”
These are not empty words because there is a sincere attempt to make a programme as close as possible to the ideal form of an integral education. We cannot forget that this school which has 2250 students has to follow the official syllabus and prepare them for the class X and XII Board Examinations of the Central Board of Secondary Education.
If one is looking for luxury and expensive fittings then this is really not the place. Perhaps its simplicity is one of its strong points. The resources available are utilised for providing an education of a high quality. The science laboratories as well as the computer labs have the latest equipments, the buildings and structure are simple but beautiful. The focus is entirely on the work at hand — a value-based education. It is this one-pointed attention that makes this school so attractive to the families who are keen to find a good school for their children. The school fees are affordable and within the means of middle-class families. No other amount is taken from the students. We all know that it is hard to get quality and quantity, but we also know that where there is a will there is always a way. It is this will which is so evident as you walk through the school. And this will is backed by a dedicated and harmonious team.
HISTORY: The school completes 50 years this year. But its story actually starts even before that day when half a century ago children came to study there. The piece of land on which the school stands was bought by Surendranath Jauhar a very long time ago. In fact it was so far from the city then, that it was considered as agriculture land and there were only villages around. A point came when Tara’s father wanted to sell it off because he could neither live on it nor could he look after it from his house in the city. A huge piece of land could also not be left abandoned in the middle of nowhere. Surendranath always took Mother’s opinion in every decision that he took in life and this was no exception. To his surprise Mother asked him not to sell it. Soon after that she asked him to start a branch of the Ashram there. Very soon after that the school was started.
At first there were only a few sheds and the handful of children who came to learn were all from the nearby villages. In this very rudimentary form the school was started. It is important to note that the date given by the Mother was 23rd April 1956. It was not a coincidence. She specifically told Surendranath that she wanted the school to be inaugurated on 23.4.56. The Mother also gave a special message for the opening of the school.
“A new Light has appeared upon earth. Let this new School opened today be guided by it.”
The message becomes clear when we see that it was given soon after the Supramental descent in 1956.
The message becomes clear when we see that it was given soon after the Supramental descent in 1956.
As the years passed the city of Delhi began to expand and soon a number of prestigious institutions came up along the road which connects the Ashram to the city. This 7kms long road is now known as Sri Aurobindo Marg (thanks again to the efforts of Surendranath Jauhar) and along it are situated the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences), the IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), the NCERT (National Centre for Education Research and Training) as well as JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University). The families connected with these institutions, themselves highly educated, began to send their children to the school. Not only did the number of children increase but also the background from which they came changed totally.
ORGANISATION: The kindergarten, known as the Mira Nursery School, housed in a separate building, is altogether a separate school. It has a harmonious surrounding and the children can see plants and flowers all around them. The main school, MIS, has a Primary section and a Middle school after which the children go on to Junior and Senior High School.
Apart from the usual subjects, physical education activities are woven into the school day. It is not unusual to see a whole class doing asanas while the others are doing maths or biology in the nearby rooms. There are several basket-ball and volley-ball courts on one side of the school building, while there is a football field on the other side encircled by a 400 metres long, six-laned running track. In the basement of the school there is a large room with 8 tables for table-tennis. Gymnastics are taught at a basic level. The aim is to have every child — and there are over 2000 of them — reach a basic level in many disciplines rather than have a few who are highly advanced. On their annual day the entire school participates and there are as many as 200 to 400 children in each drill.
Just adjacent to the school is the open-air stage. Its design is done in such a way that the green-rooms are actually under the stage, giving it an uncluttered look. Performances are held here, mostly in daylight, and canopies are erected to protect the spectators from the sun. The area where the spectators sit is actually a large field and it can be used for other activities at other times. At the moment a new and modern auditorium is coming up which will have a seating capacity of 2000 people. What makes it easy for the staff to have a control over the entire establishment is that everything is within the same compound.
Music has a place of special importance in this school. Under the guidance of Pt. Barun Pal, disciple of Pt. Ravi Shankar and a noted musician himself, the children are given a thorough training in Indian classical music. When one enters a music class, the sight of thirty or so children, divided into smaller groups, each playing a different instrument, and playing in such synchronised harmony is truly impressive. The level of instrumental as well as vocal music is indeed very high, even among very young children. Besides music and dramatics many other creative activities are offered to the students including dancing, clay-modelling and painting. The striking point is that the number of children who participate in all these activities is so large and yet the level of achievement is so high.
THE REASON BEHIND THE SUCCESS: The academic achievements are high. Since 1961, the year from which MIS students have started sitting for the Board Examinations, not a single student has failed. Most of the students pass in the 1st Division, barring only a few who pass in the 2nd Division. The reasons for the high level of achievement in academic as well as co-curricular activities are many, but foremost among them perhaps is the fact that the right environment has been created in which a child can grow inwardly. The goals set before the children are also constantly kept in view by the teaching staff as well as the parents. The atmospheres of school-life and home-life remain on the same wave-length. Nothing is more harmful to the development of a child than going back from school and finding a totally disruptive environment. In order to maintain this continuity the parents are made aware, right from the beginning, about the teachings of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.
In fact, both parents are thoroughly briefed about the system of education that is followed in the school so that they too actively participate in the education of their child. A large number of students are actually the children of former students of MIS who themselves valued the education they received. The academic success rate is high but, more importantly, the aim of passing on the ideals of a higher purpose of life is also achieved. The children who enter at the nursery level stay on until they complete Class XII. And this becomes an important factor in maintaining a high standard, because the values which are inculcated into the student have been there since his childhood. They become a natural part of his mental make-up and things do not have to be explained at a later stage.
The school is within the same campus as the Ashram itself. Although they are separate in their administration, the fact that there is such an institution so close by, must make the students feel that they are a part of a larger community. The Ashram has at its centre the Shrine of Sri Aurobindo’s relics which creates a very strong atmosphere which radiates throughout the campus.
TARA: Tara became actively involved in the school work in 1976. At first she had thought that she would be there only for six months and would eventually return to Pondicherry. But once she started working she was so wholly preoccupied that she decided that she would stay there for good. Her father had spent the greater part of the funds available to him on acquiring land for the school but once Tara joined him the real construction of the school buildings started. As Tara had been a captain here in the Ashram, she had all the necessary knowledge to reorganize and enlarge the sports facilities at Mother’s International School. Her other special contribution has been the outings, excursions and the camps. Every year the various classes go out to a different place and the children get to see and experience a variety of places throughout their school life. In this way every child gets an opportunity to visit Pondicherry too.
“I was at the Ashram when it was growing,” says Tara “and when I came here I became a part of the growth of the school. So I have always been a part of a place which is growing.”
OTHER ACTIVITIES: Mother’s International School has been established and has been running for a long time. But this is only one of the many educational activities connected with the Ashram at Delhi. Another school which is within the same compound and which also merits a close look is “Mirambika”. Lesser-known and yet equally interesting to us is this little school where an attempt is being made to put into practice the principles of Free Progress. We will write about it in our next issue, giving you an account of how this new concept in education is finding roots in the capital. FEBRUARY 2006 The Golden Chain
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