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Education
Nurturing the human value
EDUCATION IS the process of acquiring information about the external world and equipping ourselves with the skills needed to make a living, while educare may be called the process of going within learning to manifest the human values that are latent within each of us. Historically, in the Christian West, it was Sunday schools and in Islamic countries, the Madrassas catered to educare. In India, thanks to the Chinmaya Mission, which started the Bala Vihar programme, the Sathya Sai Organisation's Bal Vikas programme, and the educare concept set in motion by Swami Vivekananda, has recieved a new momentum. Of these, the Sathya Sai Residential Schools pioneered the concept of integrating educare and education into the regular CBSE curriculum. The outstanding calibre of students at the school at Puttaparthi drew the attention of devotees coming from all over the world. The inspired devotees started similar schools abroad and the first to be launched was in the 80s in Zambia, by Dr. Victor Kanu, former High Commissioner of Sierra Leone. Many such schools were started all over the world as well and more are being opened every year.
With such an expansion there arose a parallel need for teachers who were trained to impart educare along with education. Anticipating this situation, as early as in 1991, an Institute of Sathya Sai Education was established in Japan. Based on the manuals on human values used by the Bal Vikas gurus in India, they evoked a curriculum of Education in Human Values (EHV) in the various languages of the world for global use. The movement achieved a purpose and direction when Dr. Artong Jumsai, an ex-NASA scientist and three time Thai Parliamentarian, established the Institute of Sathya Sai Education in 1997 with the clear cut goals of imparting teacher training in EHV.
What is more, the think-global-but-act-local motto has also been adopted. Tradition, religion, aspirations and culture (TRAC) of the people concerned are integrated into EHV. For example, in Brazil a Christian approach to EHV has been adopted. In Indonesia where the school was set up on the land donated by two philanthropists, one a Muslim and one a Buddhist, the traditional Islamic approach to EHV has been taken up; in Nepal the principles of the Hindu kingdom apply; in Bangkok the Buddhist perspective is emphasised.
To ensure that the high standards of educare and education are maintained at these schools, the Institute at Bangkok has worked out a Standardisation — Accreditation — Inspection (SAI-2000). Institutes of Sathya Sai Education have been set up in India at Mumbai, Africa, Denmark and Brazil. In the UK, the EHV wing of the Sathya Sai Service organisation has been coordinating with the education authorities in the implementation of the non-denomination EHV programme in schools.
Studies done by independent observers in various parts of the world are pointing to one fact — that the EHV curriculum is working; and the children who have thus had educare and education, are creating waves wherever they are. In Zambia, Dr. Manchishi, a lecturer in University of Zambia, did an in depth study on the effect of value education on the students of the Sathya Sai School at Ndola. The Zambian media has dubbed the school "the miracle school" and the Zambian department of education is extending the EHV curriculum to other schools.
In the USA, a year long study of Dr. Ronne Marantz on the implementation of EHV in 14 public schools in New York, Chicago and San Deigo from Kindergarten through grade eight also showed that students had improved relationships at home and school, thanks to EHV. Richard Selby of Los Angeles has been using the EHV programme for his famous counselling programme called Focus.
In India, independent researchers studying the impact of EHV in schools, students and teachers in the 18 schools adopted by the Institute of Sathya Sai Education at Mumbai, studied the five techniques used, i.e., prayer, silent sitting, devotional group singing, story telling and group activity. They found prayer, silent sitting and devotional group singing benefited 70-75 per cent of students; they practised the values taught, at least in school. What was more, there was also an improvement in academic performance in the classrooms as a result of input of human values.
The researchers observed that teachers would be more effective if they balance love and care more judiciously while interacting with students. While firmness is necessary, love must play a dominant role in handling students; love and sub-values like sympathy and kindness must get precedence over maintaining silence and order in the class. In this context, there is a school that practices such an approach successfully; the SVV School at Vandalur, Chennai, run by the old students of the Sri Sathya Sai Women's College at Anantapur. The confidence displayed by these under privileged rural children testifies to the success of their EHV programme; indeed the school has become famous at Chennai, for year after year, these rural children have been sweeping the prizes, at interschool competitions beating all the high brow city schools.
The first ever world conference on EHV was held in the year 2000 at Prashanthi Nilayam. Besides workshops on policy, planning and the like, teachers explained how to seamlessly weave human values into routine teaching. Sathya Sai Baba in his address remarked, "The EHV teacher has to be like the drill master; he has to lead by being in front and demonstrating the exercises; likewise, by example alone can a teacher of EHV impart human values to students".
After the EHV world conference, the Department of Education, Government of India had announced that value education would be introduced in schools and colleges starting with IIT, Delhi. A lot has happened thereafter, and governments have changed; a war has been fought; and that resolve seems to have been forgotten! We are now quarrelling over quixotic issues like text errata. Inculcating human values in children is the crying need of the hour. The rest of the world is making quiet strides by following the lead shown by Indian educationists. One wonders when our government will wake up.
Hiramalini Seshadri
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