Sathya Sai School in Fiji: A model in human values

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URL: http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=31327

 

A model in human valuesTimothy Naivaluwaqa (Friday, November 04, 2005)

LEARNING how to live your life in the proper way is the whole purpose of education.

But schools in Fiji seem to have moved away towards a greater emphasis on

teaching students ways to earn a living.

According to Vishnu Deo, the chairman of the Sathya Sai Service organisation of

Fiji, making up for this discrepancy was the main reason the organisation

established the Sathya Sai School in Drasa, about 15 kilometres from Lautoka,

five years ago.

The Sathya Sai School, located at the centre of the sugar cane farming community

of Johnson, is the first of its kind in Fijis educational arena.

With a humble beginning of two classrooms and 25 students in class one and

kindergarten, the school has grown to cater for students up to class six level.

With a current roll of 136 students, including a total of 55 children from the

nearby village of Matawalu, construction is already underway to see that the

class seven and eight streams are available next year.

What really sets this school apart from other primary schools in the country, is

the type of lessons being provided.

Apart from following the standard, Ministry of Education curriculum for primary

schools, the school offers its students lessons in human values.

Every day, the students of Sathya Sai go through human values classes designed

to help them become better human beings.

Preaching the lessons of truth, right conduct, peace, love and non-violence, the

teachers of Sai Sathya are determined to ensure the proper growth of their

students educationally and spiritually.

Even though the school may at first appear to be a religious organisation, its

management insists that it was established not to convert people but to make

them better human beings in touch with what the organisation believes is the

spirituality that lies within them.

Mr Deo said throughout the human value lessons, their teachers constantly remind

themselves that they are teaching these values to a group of multi-racial and

multi-religious children.

When we purchased the 36-acres in 1999, the Sathya Sai organisation was

determined to develop a school that would make children realise the true

benefits of human values, he said.

We believe that through teaching these values to children, we would be able to

rid Fiji of the many social problems currently plaguing the country, said Mr

Deo.

Providing free education to all students that attend Sathya Sai, we hope that

lessons learnt within our gates are passed onto their parents and friends, said

Mr Deo.

Many people might regard our school as a religious organisation. But even though

we are funded by a religious organisation, we are not here to convert our

students but to make sure they find a better way of life, said Mr Deo.

He said they were determined to make a huge contribution to Fijis future even

though the school was the first and only educational institution of the Sathya

Sai service organisation of Fiji.

School director Ambika Prasad said following the dream of the organisations

founder, Sathya Sai Baba, that education be imparted to children in a different

way, they had truly formed a model school.

Mr Prasad said social problems were rife in Fiji despite the majority of its

people being educated, because human values were not being practiced.

He said without human values, people would never be able to change and the

country would continue to be engaged in the battle against social degradation.

We follow our schools theme, Love All, Serve All. We appreciate all the

different religions and their teachings so we do not intrude on the lessons of

other religions, he said.

There is only one God with many names so we try and convert all the different

rituals into service by encouraging our students to practice human values at

all times, said Mr Prasad.

He said that with the belief that every individual was chosen by God to have

different religious backgrounds, the school would continue with its work in

ensuring the countrys future generation had a better chance in life.

During its five-year history, one of the major highlights in the schools life

was the visit earlier this week by Works Minister Savenaca Draunidalo.

Mr Prasad said the visit by Mr Draunidalo had boosted the schools determination

to continue with the its principles.

Mr Draunidalo said his visit to the school was an eye-opener of what a religious

organisation could do for a country.

He said with basic human values being a key ingredient for better leadership,

schools in Fiji should learn from the Sathya Sai Schools example and work

towards a better country.

He also said he had learnt a lot on human values and the way it affected

childrens lives just by observing the students of Sathya Sai during his visit.

Mr Draunidalo said after witnessing the benefits that such a program could bring

to Fiji, he would personally take steps to ensure the Ministry of Education

recognised the efforts of the Sai Sathya service organisation of Fiji and

Sathya Sai School in helping create a better Fiji.

Verenaisi Tinai, left, and Ani Navuni perform an item at Sathya Sai School in Lautoka yesterday

Fiji Times Limited

 

 

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