Let us hope the new genration does what we failed to do; study, understand, practise and uphold our culture.
The rising sun of the swamiji schools
A silent revolution is transforming thecontours, especially the cultural context of Indian education, investing it with the rich and hitherto largely ignored spiritual wisdom and values of ancient India. Across the country education institutions promoted by charitable trusts headed by Hindu seers and saints are mushrooming, drawing students from all sections of society.
With yoga, transcendental meditation, Indian spiritual wisdom and cuisine having won themselves and their practitioners global reputations, India's gurus who had kept their faiths and spiritual traditions alive in obscure maths (trusts) in rural and small town India seem to have acquired sufficient self confidence to spread their wings and promote their brands of education-cum-spiritualism in urban India.
"There is an ocean of wisdom locked within India's ancient thought and texts which is beginning to be appreciated in India and abroad.
The promotion of culturally rooted education institutions across the country is the beginning of the process of unlocking India's ancient knowledge to provide holistic education with ethical and moral content," says Ramaswamy, the founder director of some of India's finest B-schools.
Mandya (Karnataka)-based Sri Adi Chunchanagiri Maha-samasthana Math (trust) headed by the revered seer Sri Sri Sri Balaganga-dharnath Swamiji has promoted over 375 education institutions dispensing primary to tertiary level education mainly in rural Karnataka, but latterly in Bangalore as well where it has established an ayurvedic college and the state-of-the-art BGS International School.
Art of Living Foundation through its Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir which began delivering formal education only three years ago, has already promoted over 110 schools, a fine arts college and an institute of media studies. And up north the Delhi-based Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan (est.1977) which bills itself as "the world's largest voluntary organisation in the field of education", runs 20,993 education institutions with an aggregate enrollment of 2.64 million students.
From humble beginnings Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has grown into a formidable force in Indian education providing culturally-rooted education to an estimated 300,000 students in its 77 schools and 12 colleges and two overseas centres (London and New York). "We believe that India has rich and valuable cultural traditions which should be taught in education institutions. Therefore Sanskrit and Indian music and dance are an integral part of our school curriculum and children are inducted into the habit of daily prayer.
The Chinmaya Mission founded in 1953 by Swami Chinmayananda (1916-93) which has promoted 75 Chinmaya Vidyalayas (schools) including Chinmaya International Residential School, Coimbatore, and several colleges with an aggregate enrollment of 55,000 students, is more forthright about its objectives. "The main focus of the mission is to propagate the message of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads through our youth, study and veda/ Gita chanting groups and in our Balavihar (nursery) classes for children. The broad objective is value-based and holistic education for integrated development, enriched by a knowledge of Indian culture," explains Leela Nambiar, the Chennai-based trustee of the Central Chinmaya Mission Trust which has its headquarters in Mumbai and is headed by Swami Tejomayananda.
Likewise Vishva Ratna, the Delhi-based secretary of the Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan (trust) which runs 20,993 education institutions in 28 states of the Indian Union and seven Union territories with an aggregate student enrollment of 2.64 million students and 116,833 teachers is clear about the objectives of the trust. "The ideological basis of education imparted in Vidya Bharati institutions is Indian philosophy, culture and values. The teaching and learning system is developed and strengthened by the assimilation of modern educational and Indian psychology," says Vishva Ratna.
http://www.educationworldonline.net/index.php/page-article-choice-more-id-92
The rising sun of the swamiji schools
A silent revolution is transforming thecontours, especially the cultural context of Indian education, investing it with the rich and hitherto largely ignored spiritual wisdom and values of ancient India. Across the country education institutions promoted by charitable trusts headed by Hindu seers and saints are mushrooming, drawing students from all sections of society.
With yoga, transcendental meditation, Indian spiritual wisdom and cuisine having won themselves and their practitioners global reputations, India's gurus who had kept their faiths and spiritual traditions alive in obscure maths (trusts) in rural and small town India seem to have acquired sufficient self confidence to spread their wings and promote their brands of education-cum-spiritualism in urban India.
"There is an ocean of wisdom locked within India's ancient thought and texts which is beginning to be appreciated in India and abroad.
The promotion of culturally rooted education institutions across the country is the beginning of the process of unlocking India's ancient knowledge to provide holistic education with ethical and moral content," says Ramaswamy, the founder director of some of India's finest B-schools.
Mandya (Karnataka)-based Sri Adi Chunchanagiri Maha-samasthana Math (trust) headed by the revered seer Sri Sri Sri Balaganga-dharnath Swamiji has promoted over 375 education institutions dispensing primary to tertiary level education mainly in rural Karnataka, but latterly in Bangalore as well where it has established an ayurvedic college and the state-of-the-art BGS International School.
Art of Living Foundation through its Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir which began delivering formal education only three years ago, has already promoted over 110 schools, a fine arts college and an institute of media studies. And up north the Delhi-based Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan (est.1977) which bills itself as "the world's largest voluntary organisation in the field of education", runs 20,993 education institutions with an aggregate enrollment of 2.64 million students.
From humble beginnings Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has grown into a formidable force in Indian education providing culturally-rooted education to an estimated 300,000 students in its 77 schools and 12 colleges and two overseas centres (London and New York). "We believe that India has rich and valuable cultural traditions which should be taught in education institutions. Therefore Sanskrit and Indian music and dance are an integral part of our school curriculum and children are inducted into the habit of daily prayer.
The Chinmaya Mission founded in 1953 by Swami Chinmayananda (1916-93) which has promoted 75 Chinmaya Vidyalayas (schools) including Chinmaya International Residential School, Coimbatore, and several colleges with an aggregate enrollment of 55,000 students, is more forthright about its objectives. "The main focus of the mission is to propagate the message of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads through our youth, study and veda/ Gita chanting groups and in our Balavihar (nursery) classes for children. The broad objective is value-based and holistic education for integrated development, enriched by a knowledge of Indian culture," explains Leela Nambiar, the Chennai-based trustee of the Central Chinmaya Mission Trust which has its headquarters in Mumbai and is headed by Swami Tejomayananda.
Likewise Vishva Ratna, the Delhi-based secretary of the Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan (trust) which runs 20,993 education institutions in 28 states of the Indian Union and seven Union territories with an aggregate student enrollment of 2.64 million students and 116,833 teachers is clear about the objectives of the trust. "The ideological basis of education imparted in Vidya Bharati institutions is Indian philosophy, culture and values. The teaching and learning system is developed and strengthened by the assimilation of modern educational and Indian psychology," says Vishva Ratna.
http://www.educationworldonline.net/index.php/page-article-choice-more-id-92
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