Secretary's Desk

Holy Mother & School Education

Salutations to the Holy Trinity!! And Namaste to all readers. It is with great éclat that we are launching the website of the Sarada Vidyalaya schools. In the age of internet and online reading, we felt that the news of our school activities should reach a wider section of the society and the alumni who are in various parts of the world. We offer the website at the holy feet of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and pray to bless us with wisdom, strength and ability to do her seva in the schools. We place before the readers few salient incidents from Mothers’ life and thoughts about her outlook towards Education per se and how we can apply those teachings in the Sarada Vidyalaya schools successfully.

Though not the recipient of any formal schooling, the Holy Mother was deeply committed to the education of girls. The Nivedita School established in Kolkata was overtly the effort of Sister Nivedita, but Sri Sarada Devi was the moving spirit behind the enterprise.

Whenever the Mother visited Nivedita School it was an occasion of celebration. She motivated the students by praising all their efforts—however small it may have been. She asked students with special talents to perform in front of her and lauded their efforts. She knew that this was the surest way to improve the self-worth of these children.

Apart from her contribution to developing a formal school curriculum which, according to her directive, would include not only book knowledge but practical skills for everyday living, the Mother’s life is dotted with incidents which teach numerous life skills.

When some people objected to her niece going to school after her marriage, the Mother countered their objections by saying that an educated girl would make a better wife and mother than an uneducated one.

Once a devotee brought her daughter to the Mother, saying that she was refusing to get married. Instead of persuading the girl to change her mind, the Mother suggested to the parent to send the girl to school before coercing her into a hasty marriage.

She once taught a monk who was reluctant to buy British goods that negotiation is important, even when it comes in the way of a closely held ideology.

Seeing one of the nieces bargaining with a blanket seller, the Mother showed her the importance of empathy and the ability to give to others rather than hoarding things for oneself.

Whenever anyone did anything in excess, even when it was traditional rituals, the Mother suggested moderation. To someone who was obsessed with cleanliness and constant bathing, the Mother said purity was within and not restricted to the physical body.

The crisis of our present education, especially at the school level, can be addressed by taking into account these and numerous other pointers available in the life and experiences of the Holy Mother. By including them in any curriculum, an unprecedented enrichment is sure to be the outcome. The urgent need of the hour is to assimilate such ideas into the actual classroom—both among teachers and learners, more so at the school level because a strong foundation is the basis of all future achievements in life.