The Valmiki Vidyalaya schools see a need for a balanced education in Guyana that includes encouraging high moral principles
Pandit Haresh Tewari, a member of the Valmiki Vidyalaya schools’ administration team, is the priest responsible for the Gopaul Mandir in Lusignan. He stated that the Valmiki Vidyalaya High School, formally commissioned late last year, was commissioned adjunctive to the Gopaul Mandir in Lusignan, which opened its doors on August 26, 2007.
Like the primary school, the Valmiki Vidyalaya High School is a three-storey building, and is located opposite the Suriname Embassy at Peter Rose and Crown Streets in Georgetown.
Students pose proudly with their plants at the school's recent science fair
Valmiki Vidyalaya Primary School is a joint venture between the Gandhi Youth Organisation and the International Vedanta University. He said that the Valmiki Vidyalaya Nursery and Primary School is administered by the trustees of the Gopaul Mandir.
“In a personal capacity, we are financing the school, including the development project. This is being done in conjunction with the community.
“Basically, we are the facilitators of this project, and so our objective has been to make an added contribution to the community outside of the temple.
“The temple has its mandate and its functions within the community. We believe that more could have been done for the wider society, and so decided to open this school, not only for Hindus, but a wider cross-section of the community. The school does not discriminate on the basis of religion, race or creed,” noted the pandit.
The pandit stated that, because the school depends on the benevolence of the community, its work is restricted. There are many initiatives the school wants to venture into for development of the children’s psyche, but is limited by insufficient funds; and so the pandit welcomes help from corporate society and kind-hearted individuals who would lovingly fund projects of the schools.
Based on his personal experience, the pandit stated, if a company can sponsor one child it can prove to be a significant investment.
“When you see a child succeed in becoming a well-rounded individual, it gives you a sense of fulfilment and pride.” The focus of both institutions, Pandit Tewari mentioned, is to effectively mould rounded personalities, with academic achievements corresponding to personality enhancement, where proper conduct, high moral values, and integrity are equally important as good grades.
More than ten years ago, Pandit Tewari mentioned, the secondary school was a seed germinating in a vision, but the realisation of that vision recognises that all good endeavours prevail in God’s presence and power.
He stated that education without morality is a recipe for disaster, and promised that the school’s curriculum would generate scholars who would be shining examples in our society.
“Failing to inculcate the guiding principles that will create a rounded personality based on academic achievement, moral adherence to spiritual precepts and integrity, will be a failure for the next generation.
“Valmiki Vidyalaya schools are, however, inculcating these guiding principles so that we can have better youths, who are driven to be successful.” He strongly believes that institutions such as the Valmiki Vidyalaya schools are essential to the restoration of values in decaying societies; and if other faith-based organisations could invest in schools and follow through on teaching morals and self-development, then Guyana would be a better society for our future generations.
However, Pandit Tewari said, results would only be optimised if families could provide the requisite support systems. Within the context of the father being the head, the mother the heart, and the children the soul of families, the father is the guiding force of the family structure, but each is integral to a cohesive and strong family unit.
The primary school’s first set of Grade Six Assessment students sat the exam this year, coming out with almost a hundred per cent passes. One such student is Tarmattie Persaud, who gained 526 marks.
“With the high school, we are working with the students from the initial stages until they reach the CSEC level. The teachers will not focus merely on the high achievers, but will give each student equal attention, with those who are lagging behind provided extra tutelage so that they can improve their grades and simultaneously their chances of acquiring excellent results at the CSEC exams,” he explained.
Pandit Tewari has said that the Valmiki Vidyala schools “are committed to creating an atmosphere for a form of balanced education, which takes into account the academics that the Ministry of Education’s curricula provide, and the spiritual mores of religion for imparting and enhancing the values and morals of the students.” The high school is working to develop the sciences in Guyana by improving its laboratory. Pandit Tewari said this section of academics is not pursued as it should be in our country.
Educational institutions like the Valmiki Vidyalaya schools provide the grounding for the possibility of students to morph from buds into flowering individuals who are successful in everything they do.
