A school can serve as a role model if and only
if the key criteria are satisfied. Some of these can be listed
as under:
a) The school must be situated
in an ambiance of greenery, with closeness to hills and water
body. Vast areas should be available for trees to grow, birds
and small animals to roam about, for children to play and contemplate.
Almost every Sathya Sai School abroad and some of the best schools
in the world have such a natural environment.
b) The school should be residential
for all students and their teachers. The direct, prolonged contact
between the teacher and students goes a long way in promotion
of the values practised by the teachers. Distraction of the
outside world by way of movies, television, newspapers and telephone
has to be controlled to the minimum. Moreover, the habits of
'early to bed and early to rise' , group prayers and meditation
in Brahma Muhurta, are possible only in a residential school.
It is also possible in a residential school to spread the school
schedule over the entire day in such a manner as to promote
the leisurely absorption of the school culture and the teachings.
There should be a great emphasis on student
initiative. Swimming, trekking, rock and mountain climbing promote
Courage, Adventure etc.
c) The teacher has to be
carefully selected so that he/ she is able to play the role
of an ideal committed and devoted teacher. The twin principles
of Love and Law have to be judiciously integrated in any activity
in the school. The teacher is essentially a learner for life;
and this should be amply evident in his behaviour. Not mere
presence but active participation of the teacher in school Assembly
and co-curricular activities is essential to give a lead and
set an example.
d) The teacher should have
a good understanding of child psychology and development. It
is now well recognised that there are many dimensions of development
intelligence, emotional, moral, etc. They do not all proceed
at the same pace; in fact, each domain tends to be largely independent
of the others. They are shaped differently by variable inputs
from environment and heredity (nature and nurture); social and
moral developments are influenced more by environment than heredity.
A healthy and creative ambiance of the school is a very critical
factor in the Educare Programme.
e) Students should have a
role to play in Hostels and school Assembly, classroom cleanliness
and display, library management, etc. Younger students will
love to take care of small plants and feed the birds. Older
students can be involved in community service activities -visits
to Homes of the disabled, adult literacy programmes, disaster
relief work, etc.
f) The curriculum has to
be an integration of secular knowledge & skills, along with
the practices of spiritual discipline. Each activity, each academic
subject, gains as well as contributes through the synergy principle.
It is therefore important that the teachers have a wide range
of interests, that they are not 'subject specialists' merely
knowing 'more and more about less and less.'
![[ Image of Students ]](graphics/pic_philo_wide.jpg)
