The
Location
Bagepally - a flicker of hope where there’s been no
light , till now. For miles on the horizon, this stretch
of land bordering the States of karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
in India, one will hardly see verdant greenery. Drought
prone and completely dependent on rain, this region sustains
only on the meager milk production that the cattle of the
rural folk provide. A place, where fetching water for household
use and drinking is a rigorous chore for the womenfolk,
sending children to school was a dream, never even dreamt.
Bagepally, a region of
some 230 villages that house a million and half of population,
has for the counting, just about 300 schools. For the nearly
30,000 children here, higher education is inaccessible with
only 10 schools offering it. For the whole region, there’s
just only one first grade college, worth its name.
Meeting a need
But the aspirations of this folk are no modest. They are
witness to the fly past of modern civilization, seen in
the gleaming fleet of buses and cares that pass through
the National Highway linking two great cities of South India
– Bangalore (the Information Technology capital of
India) and Hyderabad the capital of Andhra Pradesh State.
Bagepally
is exactly midway (94kms) from Bangalore to Puttaparthy
– the abode of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. And it
was with His divine will that Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Niketan
at Bagepally was established to provide academic
succor to the deprived in the region.
The
beginning
The year was 2001. The initiative saw 36 four-five year
olds stepping into the modest portals of the school –
their eyes wide open with curiosity and their bare feet,
a bit hesitant to climb the steps of modern academics. For
their parents, it was a lifetime miracle – to see
their children start off on a course, which was unimaginable
and unaffordable by them till then.
The
Progress
Today, four years later, 300 children adorn the portals
of Sri Sathya Vidya Niketan – studying in classes
1 to 8. They come from nearly 36 villages of the region,
(some like Marganakunte, Mittemari and Varlakonda villages),
which are as far as 20 to 30kms. Representing progressive
backward families, they are drawn to Sri Sathya Sai Vidya
Niketan for the difference that this school holds for them.
The
difference
Curricular academics are just the beginning, here. Holistic
development of the child is the aim. Grooming them as responsible
citizens, imbibing in them human values and moral conducts
are the goals. Empowering the whole village with knowledge,
values and service through the representative child, is
the grand design.
The
satisfaction
And the success in the past four years is encouraging. It
is an experiment that was inspired by the very Divine. It
is Bhagawan who has seen its fructification in short time.
Devout teachers who stay in – campus are from Bhagawan’s
colleges. The devotees of Bhagawan who seek to do their
mite to the deprived are putting up the infrastructure.
The parents of these children are no more mere spectators
of this grand process but have committed themselves to the
cause and to spread the good word and undertake the good
deed in their own small way in their neighborhood communities.
The fact that activities in the spheres of health care,
rural sanitation and hygiene, spiritual and cultural, etc
are a regular event in the villages the school has impacted,
speaks volumes for the transformation that process this
initiative has sparked off.
The
commitment
Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Niketan is more a commitment to society
than a mere school. In identifying the children for admission,
it considers the socioeconomic background of the family.
It is a completely self-funded initiative that is not dependent
on any statutory or government aid.
Children are provided clothes, uniforms, other accessories
such as bags, foot wear, books, writing materials, etc.
wherever needed, free of cost.
Going beyond the prescribed State Syllabus, the children
are trained in extra skills such as computer knowledge,
games and sports, arts and crafts, performance arts such
as music and dance, practices of health and hygiene and
above all are trained in human values which will make them
complete, concerned and caring individuals of the society.
The
spread
The expression of its commitment to the society is reflected
in such activities as weekly interactions with the parents
through bhajan meets, sports events, Nagara sankee-rthana,
narayana seva, honoring outstanding teachers from other
schools of the region, conducting free coaching classes
for the failed secondary school students (which has seen
a success rate of 93%), workshops for other school teachers
on teaching techniques and imbibing of human values in their
pedagogy, etc. These have set Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Niketan,
apart from others and given it a role model status.
The
urge to enlarge
The impetus for the initiative is gaining more momentum
with this success. The school desires to reach more children
in the near future with a target of being a temple of learning
for nearly a thousand children. This would mean enlarging
the infrastructure- more class rooms, more laboratories,
more computers, more books and reference material in library,
more teachers, more play facilities, etc. that initially
need financial help.
Not just these, the school
also intends to include teacher training programmes that
will train young men and women who be prospective teachers
here and in schools around and carry forward the good work.
