primary schools in Kerela

[Guest guest]

Om Amrite Swarite Namah,

 

I'm thinking of moving to Amritapuri for a while, after next summer's

N. American tour. Can anyone help me with some questions?

 

1. What's the weather like there that time of year (Aug.,

Sept.,Oct.)? Some people say it's super HOT and others say no, it's a

good time to go, weather-wise.

 

2. Since I will have my 6 yr old daughter with me, what are the

schooling possibilities? I heard that there was a nice school nearby,

but no details beyond that.

 

Or, perhaps someone can refer me to another who can better help with

these questions.

 

Namah shivaya,

 

Sarah

[Guest guest]

Hi Sarah,

 

Me and my family stayed in Amritapuri for two years and my older son went to

school there for over a year and half. I will answer your questions briefly, if

you need more details do e-mail me privately at my e-mail address and I will

reply to you.

 

Weather: Since Kerala is only about 9 deg from the equator it is always hot and

humid throughout the year. Yes even in December and January. But during the

months that you would be visiting I think there should be fair amount of rain.

So eventhough it's hot and humid because of the rain it sometimes will feel cool

in the nights and if you are lucky sometimes during the day. You have to

remember that houses in India are built for heat unlike in the US here where

it's built for the cold weather.

 

The buildings are made out of cement and stones so they don't get really hot so

you will likely feel cool during the nights and there is a strong breeze in the

nights. So you are right some people like me feel really hot and some people

like my wife just do fine. It's really a matter of personal preference.

 

School: The education culture is really different is India and I expect you will

pretty much get shocked by it. So I will give you a gentler introduction so you

are not caught off guards and will be at least mentally prepared. The education

in US has a lot of choice- with day schools, day cares and public/private

schools and you have a choice to send kids to a school for temporary periods

like 3 months in your case and keep the children entertained.

 

The schools kind of reflect the culture in India. Most of the people take care

of the children by themselves - that is unlike Western culture where the

families are nuclear and schools are a way of parents to have some time for

themselves and entertain the kids. Whereas in India there are joint families and

the granparents love to take care of the children by themselves and children are

not sent to school just for the parents to relax. Also children have enough

attractions at home and plenty of friends to play with and unnecessary amount of

adults that keep an eye on them .

 

In US because of child and sexual abuse concerns there is a fear of strangers

and children are usually discouraged from approaching strangers. In India with

the kind of social fabric it's kind of hard. So there are culture differences in

the role of a school in the society.

 

Also in India modern schools seem to be British inspired and I suspect the

British started schools as a way of preparing Indians to be good

clerks/subordinates with emphasis on English grammar and memory/rote skills. The

education in India is like a rat race and I don't see any chance of your kid

fitting properly in a school setting. However as long as you pay the school

tuition and such you should be able to find a school that will accommodate you

kid for three months. You have to remember that the instruction medium inspite

of the school being English medium will be in the local language. This is

frustatingly true in Kerala where the predominant medium is Malayalam because

the people here especially are very proud of their language and the goverment

here too unlike in my home state has encouraged Malayalam as the primary

language in schools, goverment, print and electronic media. So language is the

first challenge.

 

The next challenge is the kind of eductaion as I already pointed out. The

teaching is entirely from the textbook - there is complete absence of any visual

aids or practical learning. This can be totally frustrating.

 

I don't want to totally freak you out. May be you kid will like the experience.

I don't even know if you are from the US, if you are from Europe may be you may

find it similar. You should have probably judged by know that I am biased

towards the American schools.

 

Having said all this Amma's school is the best. That's where my son attended the

school. Lot of Amma's teachers are Brahmacharinis and at least they are exposed

to western people and culture and trying to inculcate the visual tools in

teaching. All the western children go to Amma's school and the school bus starts

from the Ashram. So it will be very convenient. When you get there I would

suggest you talk to Amma and get her permission to send your kid up there. They

usually will not accommodate a child for three months, so if Amma says they

might allow. Best of luck on that.

 

Wow it turned out to be a long e-mail anyway. I hope I didn't really bore you or

anyone else for that matter. But please email me privately for any further

questions at ravichivukula. Always remember that Disclaimer: my

opinions are biased and your experiences may be quite the opposite and if you

keep an open mind in spite of my best efforts to make you biased it will serve

you good.

 

Namah Shivaya

Ravi

 

 

Ammachi, sarah smith <sarahkauai@h...> wrote:

>

> Om Amrite Swarite Namah,

>

> I'm thinking of moving to Amritapuri for a while, after next summer's

> N. American tour. Can anyone help me with some questions?

>

> 1. What's the weather like there that time of year (Aug.,

> Sept.,Oct.)? Some people say it's super HOT and others say no, it's a

> good time to go, weather-wise.

>

> 2. Since I will have my 6 yr old daughter with me, what are the

> schooling possibilities? I heard that there was a nice school nearby,

> but no details beyond that.

>

> Or, perhaps someone can refer me to another who can better help with

> these questions.

>

> Namah shivaya,

>

> Sarah

>