Education in India

The Bahá’í community of India has sponsored a wide variety of educational initiatives. These include village schools (including both tutorial schools and community schools), rural development institutes, agricultural schools and private English-medium schools.

Village schools

1970s-1990s: Tutorial schools

A mathematics class at New Ideal Academy, near Lucknow.

Main article: Tutorial school

Tutorial schools are simple, non-formal schools, generally serving a small rural area such as a village, which aims to provide basic education to rural children with the resources available to the community. The term was originally used to describe the schools established by the Bahá’í community in Indian villages where systematic arrangements for children's schooling were lacking or absent.

The first tutorial schools were established as a response to the large number of enrollments after mass teaching began in the rural areas of India, to provide for the education of illiterate Bahá’ís and enable them to read prayers and study the Bahá’í Writings. A system of such schools was established across India in areas with reasonably well-functioning Local Spiritual Assemblies which could support the task of organizing and running the schools. In the first year of the project, 40 schools were opened in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The reputation of the Bahá’í tutorial schools grew as the local population observed that the quality of instruction exceeded that of free government schools.

The schools generally involve a dedicated teacher providing training in elementary academic subjects and skills of service, as well as offering classes for reading, writing and moral education. Classes may be held either outdoors in a sheltered area, or indoors in a home, Bahá’í centre, or other building. Teachers may be volunteers or salaried, with salaries either fully paid by parents, paid partly by parents and supplemented by Bahá’í funds, or paid entirely from Bahá’í funds, as conditions require.

2000s-present: Community schools

Main article: Community school

Agricultural schools

A tree-planting project undertaken by students of Rabbani Bahá’í School.

Agricultural schools are specialized vocational schools which teach the principles and skills needed for agriculture. Rabbani Bahá’í School, a Hindi-medium agricultural school in Gwalior for students from the sixth through eleventh standards, specialized in agronomy and animal husbandry, as well as teaching academic subjects and providing moral education. The school incorporated a large farm where students would learn agricultural skills in a hands-on manner, bringing these skills back to their communities upon graduation.

Rural development institutes

Trainees grow their own food at the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in Indore.

A large number of social and economic development projects have been established in Indian villages, generally involving adult education. Such projects generally aim to work closely with rural populations to determine the most appropriate ways to improve their lives, including not only the development of technology and material infrastructure (such as wells, roads or bridges) but also training and education in public health and sanitation, animal husbandry, agriculture, computer skills, and trades such as woodworking, tailoring, embroidering, beading, and jewellery-making.

Where projects have been sustained, institutes have arisen to support the training of villagers. A prominent example is the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in Indore, established in 1985, which offers training programs for tribal women in the Jhabua and Dhar districts of Madhya Pradesh, one of the least developed states in the country. The New Era Institute of Rural Technology near Pune, established in 1980 as a social and economic development project supported by New Era High School, provided skills training and technical assistance to villagers with the aim of supporting the development of village-based small industries. After the Institute merged with a second project in 1983, they were integrated into the New Era Development Institute (NEDI), formed in 1987.

Special priority is given to the education of women in Bahá’í teachings. To support parents—especially mothers—who attend training, children's classes may be arranged through local Bahá’í training institutes to provide for the care and education of children.

References

Bibliography

• Barrett, Barbara (1986). The Development Of Bahá’Í Schools During The Seven Year Plan. Published in The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1986). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 18 (1979-1983), Pg(s) 207-229. View as PDF.
• McGilligan, Janak Palta (2012). The Barli Development Institute for Rural Women: an alternative model of women's empowerment in India. Oxford: George Ronald. ISBN 9780853985587.
• Universal House of Justice (1996). Geoffry W. Marks (ed.). Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986: The Third Epoch of the Formative Age. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. ISBN 0-87743-239-2.
• Zemke, Ken; White, Truitt, eds. (1980). Baha'i Education in India. National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India.