EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

To achieve its objectives the Ashram  undertook various initiatives and started numerous  activities on education and rural empowerment.

Gandhi Niketan Education Academy

In 1946 Gandhiji blessed two teachers of the Ashram, trained in the Gandhian system of education and the Ashram started a primary school with their help to translate  the Gandhian vision of education into a reality   and  thus promoted a significant experiment in the field of basic education with demonstrable results. The Basic Education experiment of Gandhiniketan has proven   the need to tailor education  to the local context and to provide opportunities for students for  learning not only in the classroom but also in the worksheds, farms and community.

With the changing educational policies of the government of the day these basic schools have now become primary and higher secondary schools. The primary school has 1500 students and higher secondary school has about 2500 students both boys and girls on its rolls

These schools work with a motto of  integrating education with the environment and society to make students self reliant and useful to the community. It draws students from the surrounding villages within a radius of 15-20kms.

Nearly eighty percent of the students are  from economically and socially deprived families. Children from families  steeped in poverty are assisted  financially and supported with uniforms, note books and other materials.Happily  their academic achievements are on par with students from  many of the urban schools. They have acquitted themselves creditably  with   a percentage of 90-95% passes in the public examination which speaks for the commitment of the teachers and the taught.

With the support of  the Ministry of Human Resource Development, training programmes for school teachers, covering values related to national integration, secularism, self-reliance, ecology, social responsibilities and community living are imparted.