Education Wing

"The future of the nation lies not with the politicians but with the values with which we are able to inspire today's children."

"Education is like a bank on which the Nation draws a cheque whenever it needs strong and reliable workers", says Sathya Sai Baba.

Sathya Sai Baba emphasises that Education should be for life, not just for a living. He says that, "Education should serve not only to develop one's intelligence and skills, but also help broaden one's outlook and make a person useful to society and the world at large. This is possible only when cultivation of the spirit is promoted along with education in the physical sciences. Moral and spiritual education will train a person to lead a disciplined life. Education without self-control is no education at all. True education should make a person compassionate and humane. It should not make him self-centred and narrow-minded." He points out that "Science without humanity and commerce without morality are both useless and dangerous."

Already, Baba is in the process of effecting a total transformation of the educational system in India -- a task to which the Government is now giving its full support. He has, Himself, opened several universities, both for men and for women, as well as very many colleges and schools. In all of these, emphasis is laid on the need to develop character, spiritual awareness and moral responsibility, while at the same time giving the students access to the most advanced scientific and technological knowledge.

Baba constantly reminds us that it is the youth of today who will be the ones to shape tomorrow's world. If we want our world to be a better, safer and a more ecologically viable place in which to live, then we need to develop in our children a sense of social responsibility and a strong spiritual awareness.

As a means for bringing about this much needed change in outlook, Baba has instigated a system of Values Education which can be taught outside school hours and which thus provides a much-need corrective to the current educational trends. For, as He says, "Present day education develops intellect and skills but does little to develop good qualities", and asks, "of what avail is all the knowledge in the world if one has not got a good character?"

It is the Educational Wings of the various Sai Centres throughout the world that have the responsibility of putting these programmes into effect and they deserve all our support and encouragement.

There is a great deal of anxiety at the present time among thoughtful persons, who sense that our rapid progress in control and adaptation of our material world has not been matched by corresponding advances in human character and virtue. Many observe that moral values are disintegrating on all fronts both public and personal life.

The very survival of our society and the world depends upon a wide-spread renewal of individual commitment to an active moral life. Human kind must rediscover a sense of meaning and recapture a feeling of total dedication to noble ideals. The Values Education programme is founded on the belief that such a renewal is possible. It sets forth a plan of education designed to help children learn and practise the basic values that are essential to civilisation.

Objectives of Value-Based Education

To impart values to the growing personalities of the children, which will enable them to live lives to the fullest potential. At the same time, they will share with people who are less fortunate and contribute to the general welfare of the whole community.

Through participation in this programme it is hoped that children will:

Learn about the cultures, customs and religions of other people in order to appreciate the brotherhood of man.
Appreciate the five basic human values of Truth, Right Action, Peace, Love, and Non-Violence as a essential to the development of character.
Acquire necessary skills that will help them to experience the five human values and put them into daily practice.
Act consistently with the stated human values in thought, word and deed.
Acquire decision-making skills which will facilitate development of moral learning.
Develop a sense of responsibility for the consequences of their actions and act with regard for the rights, life and dignity of all persons.
Develop self-discipline and self-confidence necessary to promote the fulfilment of their potential.
Develop a healthy attitude towards their environment.
Develop the value skills needed for personal, family, community, national and world harmony.

There are five basic human values that are universally recognized and respected. They are the key to self-confidence, self-reliance, dependability, peace and happiness. Not only do they benefit the individual but, when practiced by the society, they create a peaceful, harmonious and purposeful society and nation.

The five basic values are:

Truth
Right Action
Peace
Love
Non-Violence

Taken together, these values encompass a development vision of human potential. Thus the pursuit of truth will lead to right action: right action promotes peace: peace enables one to love, and love expands into non-violence.

There are also five domains of the human personality, each of which relates to one of the five values. These are: Intellectual, Physical, Emotional, Psychic & Spiritual.

The Sathya Sai Education in Human Values Programme

This is a unique programme that teaches these values in a simple and enjoyable way. It carries the name of Sathya Sai after its founder.

The programme was started in India in the schools administered by the Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. So successful was it that it was adopted by the Indian Government and is now being introduced into many countries throughout the world as well. Click here to see more details of the new Sathya Sai Education in Values Institute being planned for New Zealand.

It may be taught within the normal school curriculum or as a community based Values Education Programme. In the first, the values breathe through the subjects being taught and are brought out of those subjects.