Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra
Do higher fees in schools mean BETTER quality education?
Let’s look at this alternative school in Auroville that shows us how this is ABSOLUTELY not true!
Note: if you want to volunteer in Auroville, read till the end.
I visited this school in the beginning of this month and made a documentary about it!
Watch it here:
How did they start this school?
This school started in the late 90s as a music school for dropouts as a way to give them a space to express themselves.
“Isai” = music
“Ambalam”= public space
But after the impact of the mid-day meals in schools and increased retention, the dropouts began to reduce.
Gradually the music school turned into a research school for rural children around Auroville!
What philosophy do they follow here?
They follow something called “INTEGRAL EDUCATION”, integrating the mind, body and vital.
They try to give as much importance as possible to each of these aspects.
Examples for each aspect
1. Mind: academics, research, extra curricular activities.
2. Body: judo, Kurash, silambam, swimming.
3. Vital: meditation, working with nature, collaboration (team work in classes), plays, art.
They do not have exams till 8th standard. For boards they follow NIOS.
What makes this school different?
Here are the top 5 unique things:
1. Making learning visual
2. STEM
3. Cultural integration
4. Equal importance to sports
5. No fees
1. Making learning visual
They want children to be able to express and see their own thoughts as well as others to see how everyone thinks. For this to be effective, they have created blackboards on walls and created circular seating arrangements!
2. STEM
They have a STEM land in school where children start with Scratch and then move higher up from there to more complex coding concepts!
They also learn how to work with circuits, basic electronics, games around problem solving and they also conduct science experiments!
3. Cultural integration
The school focuses a lot on bringing the child’s culture into the curriculum so that they feel confident and empowered about their environment.
e.g they write and perform plays inspired by local stories, play local games and read local stories.
4. Equal importance to sports
Each teacher gives equal importance to sports as they believe that it contributes to the child’s well-being.
For example, if the teacher has not completed a portion from the syllabus, they will not compensate that with a sports period.
5. No fees
Until recently there were absolutely no fees as the parents could not afford to pay anything. But since the last 2 years, parents have decided amongst themselves to pay 1-2k per month.
Whatever else is needed for the school is done through fundraisers!
In this way, regardless of their financial backgrounds, all children get access to this holistic education.
Volunteering opportunity:
This school is very open to volunteers coming in and teaching different subjects so do reach out to them via mail if interested.
You can figure out your accommodation and food through your conversation with them!
If you liked this thread, RT the 1st tweet!
Follow for more such threads on education and alternative practices!
https://twitter.com/SamrajSanjana/status/1783848778769789244?t=6PupMzKVjL895dTsA3w9ow&s=19
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