Project 2. Education

EDUCATION

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A Revolution for Education

Free School Education Program

Imagine a world in which children from rural areas, tribal areas and slums are able to receive free school education. Well, imagine no more. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has set up more than 117 free schools in the tribal and rural belts of India where child labour and poverty are widespread. Every year 10,000 children benefit from the education imparted by the free school. Children are not only provided with free education but also skills which will enable them to go forward in life. Read more

• 117 free schools

• Tribal, rural and slum

• 12,639 children benefitted

Our Vision

Our schools provide free, value-based education in a stress-free, student friendly environment that:

• Enables students to discover their inner talents and to blossom to their fullest potential

• Broadens the vision while deepening the cultural roots of the students, by enabling them to appreciate the cultural heritage of their own country and yet to have a global vision

Free Schools

The Art of Living’s free schools are located in various rural, tribal and slum areas across India. Each school has its own set of challenges based on the geographical and cultural set-up of the land and its people.

Some areas are extremely remote, surrounded by forests and no roads or electricity. In some of the places, the children are more familiar with guns than soap! The need to impress upon them that education and schooling is the means towards a better future is imperative.

In rural areas which are more accessible, parents prefer to send their children as domestic helpers or to the farms to earn a few rupees, rather than give them with an education. This is especially true for young girls.. It is common practice in villages that when a girl turns 14 she gets married, and by age 20 has children. She has no education behind her, no money, no self-confidence and no self-esteem.

Slums have their own set of challenges. Located in the hearts of cities, the disparity between the middle-class urban population and slum dwellers makes a constant impression on young minds. Lack of availability of free education forces them to look for other means to earn a quick buck. Drugs, violence, alcohol and tobacco are easier to come by than books.

This shows how desperately education is needed in these areas, to ensure the future of these children and of the wider community.

The Art of Living volunteers, inspired by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar have laid the foundation and created the infrastructure to facilitate this vision of free education to children in these areas. Starting from awareness campaigns to providing free transportation, uniforms, mid-day meals, books and accessories, to building free schools in the remotest of areas. A revolution has begun - a revolution in school education!

APPROACH

Introduction

A school education is the first built environment that a child interacts with individually, outside his/her family’s domain. Therefore it is important that a school education is as comfortable and friendly as possible, both physiologically and psychologically.

The impact of education on communities has been undoubtedly positive. There is a heightened appreciation for the role of school education in terms of improving general life styles. Parents begin to view the future of their children with hope, and a sense of harmony is created among diverse cultural and ethnic groups.

Education is not only measured through academic performance but the overall success achieved in life of an individual, and how this spills over to all other facets of life.

First-Generation Learners

More than 28 percent of the Indian population is under the age of 15. Teaching such a large number of children is a real challenge that is made more complex due to the largely rural population. With 68 percent of India's population considered rural and 8 percent classified as tribal, it is estimated that 60 million children or more are without access to early childhood education.

Against the backdrop of this harsh reality, schools are being set up in underdeveloped areas spread across India. Each school is committed to providing value-based, quality education to every child. Most of these children are very often first-generation learners.

The Art of Living also addresses the social, economic and cultural barriers that keep children away from school. Through medical camps, parent education workshops and hygiene awareness campaigns, initiatives are taken to encourage families to send their children to school.

Under its Care for Child or Gift a Smile program, The Art of Living runs more than 117 schools in the tribal and rural belts of India, where child labor and poverty are widespread. Nearly 12,639 children from economically challenged areas benefit annually.

Stress-Free Schools

Art of Living schools are dedicated to provide holistic education that is aimed at all-round development of the individual. The methodology promotes cognitive, physical, emotional, social and spiritual growth. This leads to an education that is complete, resulting in the ‘complete child’.

Students are encouraged to broaden their vision and deepen their roots by appreciating the cultural heritage of their own country and honor those of other nations. They are provided with modern tools as well as the moral and spiritual strength needed to face the challenges of modern day living.

Learning is an individual process for each student and information is imparted at the realm of experience. While nurturing human values of love, friendliness, compassion, caring and sharing, the regular curriculum is offered in a joyful and stress-free manner. This encourages children in such a way that they actually look forward to going to school.

By combining formal education with life skills such as relaxation tools and stress-elimination techniques, teachers create a conducive and holistic environment to learning. When a child learns how to handle his/her emotions, he/she is empowered with a set of tools for life.

When the focus is not just academics, but also all-round development of the child, children develop lateral skills that are needed to cope with all kinds of challenges in life.

Developing Communities

Giving children an education and a solid foundation for a career ensures the prosperity of the entire family. Over the years, this has translated into helping the development of communities.

In places, where roads are yet to be made, water and electricity to be sought, the villagers find solace in simply-constructed structures that serve as schools. Learning in open spaces, in the fields, under the trees, these schools have helped to bring communities together and have allowed them to dream of a life they would want for their children.

The continual development and expansion brings communities closer towards achieving a better life and creating a self-sustaining tribal community.

Additionally we also develop communities around schools. We do this by providing:

Vocational Training for the parents of these children

Free medical camps for the community

Tree planting and reforestation

Organic farming to improve crop yield

OUR SCHOOLS

Below are Success stories of our Schools

Holistic Education

“Education is this civilization’s greatest leveler. It has the power to empower the weakest of the weak, bring peace to the world and alleviate poverty. It is often seen as the only lit path in the pursuit of happiness.” ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

In August 1936, Mahatma Gandhi wrote in the newspaper Harijan "India lives in her villages, not in her cities". For countries such as India, it is critical that each child, particularly outside the cities, be educated in such a way such that they can effectively contribute to the nation and the world.

This holds true for India even today. The Care for Child or Gift a Smile program primarily aims to bring a modern and holistic education to children that are outside the reach of other government or private programs. Schools under the Gift a Smile program fall into three categories: rural, tribal and slum schools.

Rural schools are established in villages close to a major city. They typically have some kind of road access and electricity. Tribal schools are established in remote areas where neither roads nor electricity exist. In some cases these tribal schools are 30km away from main roads and the only access is through country roads. Slum schools are established in urban areas.

The rural and slum schools follow a more conventional education program, while in the tribal schools the emphasis is more on providing a basic education platform with development of entrepreneurial and vocational skills that these children can build upon if they choose to. The Gift a Smile program also runs Heritage schools with emphasis on preserving India's Vedic tradition.

Tribal Schools

Delivering education to remote areas

The term ‘tribals’ refers to a small minority group in India whose ethnic origins, culture and lifestyle differ from mainstream Indian society.

Today, these groups face a diversity of problems. Most are economically challenged and the culture of tribal groups preserved for thousands of years now faces the threat of extinction.

The influence of mainstream society has made it impossible for these groups to remain oblivious to the developments of modern civilization. At the same time, lack of education has prevented them from joining mainstream society. The new generation faces many challenges, and their frustration leads to crime and violence in tribal areas.

To counter this trend, schools were started in 1999 in the tribal areas of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Tripura (North East India). Today, there are 22 tribal schools and more are being established in remote areas where neither roads nor electricity exist.

Our schools

• Help tribal groups to improve their standard of living

• Create awareness among tribes about the richness of their own culture

• Guide them to live amidst a quickly developing world

• Aid in preserving the rich biodiversity, which is present in tribal areas

Urban/Slum Solution

Even as tribal areas suffer from isolation and destitution, urban slums face other challenges. Apart from the strains of poverty, children from slums are often caught in a web of crime and violence. To provide quality, value-based education to children in urban slums The Art of Living runs six slum schools in India, providing for about five hundred students.

School in Asia’s largest slum

Leaping over challenges like unemployment and abject poverty, malnutrition and disease, uneducated parents' indifferent to education, social challenges such as violence, alcoholism and drugs, The Art of Living started it’s first English language school in Asia’s largest slum, Dharavi. See also www.dharavischool.org

Rural Schools

Supporting Rural Education

To encourage attendance at school, uniforms, books and bags are provided for the students, along with free education. Students are given nutritious mid-day meals and parents are counseled about the importance of education. School buses transport children to and fro, often from distant villages. All these incentives encourage children to attend school. The attendance rate is 98% and the dropout rate is zero.

Care for Health and Hygiene, Human Values & Self-Development

With regards to the economic status of children and the poor access to water and sanitation, special attention is given to health and hygiene issues. Teachers focus on the development of human values such as love, compassion, service and care for the environment, in addition to the regular teaching curriculum. Children are taught self-development skills, introduced to computers and encouraged to take part in extra-curricular activities.

The First Rural School

Ved Vignan Maha Vidhya Peeth (VVMVP) was the first rural school started by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. It was started with 30 children in 1981 near the international headquarters of The Art of Living in Bangalore.

Today the school has 2200 students from 51 surrounding villages achieving a 100% success rate in local exams. This one school has been the inspiration for founding 64 similar such free rural schools run across India.

Revolution for education

A revolution for education. 115 free schools in rural and tribal areas of India are teaching thousands of first-generation learners.

A revolution for education. 115 free schools in rural and tribal areas of India are teaching thousands of first-generation learners.

Imagine a world in which children from rural areas, tribal areas and slums are able to receive free school education. Well, imagine no more. Sri Sri Ravi Shankarhas set up more than 92 free schools in the tribal and rural belts of India where child labor and poverty are widespread. 10,000 children benefit annually from the education imparted by the free school. Children are not only provided with free education but also skills which will enable them to go forward in life. Read more

Free school Education Program

• 115 free schools

• Tribal, rural and slum

• 12,639 children benefit

Our schools provide free, value based education in a stress-free student friendly environment that:-

• Enables the students to discover their inner talents and to blossom them to the fullest potential.

• Broadens the vision and deepens the roots by enabling them to appreciate the cultural heritage of their own country and yet have a global vision.

The Art of Living’s free schools are located in various rural, tribal and slum areas across India. Each school has its own set of challenges based on the geographical and cultural set-up of the land and its people.

Some areas are extremely remote, surrounded by forests and no roads or electricity. In some of the places, the children are more familiar with guns than soap! The need to impress education and schooling, as a means towards a future is imperative.

In rural areas which are more accessible parents prefer to send their children as domestic helpers onto the farms to earn a few rupees, rather than opportune them with an education. This is even more so for a girl child. It is common practice that when she turns 14 she gets married, by 20 has 5 children, has no education behind her, no money and further more no self-confidence and no self-esteem.

Slums have their own set of challenges. Located in the hearts of cities, the disparity between the urban and slum dwellers is a constant impression on the young minds. Lack of availability of free education forces them to look for other means to earn the quick buck. Drugs, violence, alcohol, tobacco are easier to come by than books.

These facts have made it pertinent to broaden our vision and deepen our roots by bringing education to each child in need.

The Art of Living volunteers, inspired by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar have laid the foundation and created structures to facilitate this vision of free education to children in such areas. Starting from awareness campaigns to providing free transportation, uniforms, mid-day meals, books and accessories, building free schools in the remotest of areas a revolution has begun, - a revolution in school education!

First free school in Arunachal Pradesh

Sri Sri Gnan Mandir, the first free school in Arunachal Pradesh

Inspired by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s vision of providing value-based quality education to the marginalized sections of society, The Art of Living opened Sri Sri Gnan Mandir, a school that provides free education, in Seppa, Arunachal Pradesh.

The school offers free education to students from poor and needy families of the area.

“The students will be provided with uniforms, books, writing materials, etc to counterbalance any factors that can hold back the children from poor families from coming to school,” explained Pai Dawe, a local co-ordinator of The Art of Living.

Most of the students who have sought admission to the schools are first-generation learners, meaning that nobody in their families has ever attended school.

“This is very encouraging to see parents who have never gone to school lining up to get their children educated. The response of the parents is so overwhelming that we have decided to start classes for the adult population also,” said Project Co-ordinator Mitra Agarwal.