Some of the oldest schools in India were started by men and women who came to India with a mission to give themselves to children for a formative education.
This school in the picture was established by the Church Missionary Society, an organization which was born in London and had its head quarters at Waterloo Road for several years. Every time I visited this building, where the offices of the Christian Medical Fellowship and Inter-Health also were located, I got a glimpse of the pioneering story of this organisation, which spread its wings to Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, etc.
Rev. Michael Nasir Ali was its general secretary when I first visited its office in 198, who subsequently became a Bishop of Church of England and visited us in 2007,when we were still at CMC Vellore. It was during several meetings with him over the years, I got a glimpse of his passion 'education as formation', which he ardently advocated during his tenure as Bishop. This missionary vocation of hundreds of men and women for about two centuries was pivotal in creating educational opportunities for 'natives' in these countries during the 'colonial' era.
Rev. Michael Nasir Ali was its general secretary when I first visited its office in 198, who subsequently became a Bishop of Church of England and visited us in 2007,when we were still at CMC Vellore. It was during several meetings with him over the years, I got a glimpse of his passion 'education as formation', which he ardently advocated during his tenure as Bishop. This missionary vocation of hundreds of men and women for about two centuries was pivotal in creating educational opportunities for 'natives' in these countries during the 'colonial' era.
The above school which we visited, is located in a spacious campus with a church in its campus. This school was the centre of educational activities in this town. It was the first in this region to offer 'English' education that opened up the opportunities for many to seek higher education. The central Travancore, as it was known in those days had some schools and colleges of repute, thanks to the men and women who came from England to offer leadership to establish and oversee these institutions.
Our school education in those days was soundly rooted in a value base approach and was designed for a formative influence on children. It became the means of social transformation in our society.
This raises the question, 'is education a formative experience for our children today'?
In a meeting yesterday, I heard teachers ask an alarming question,' where are we headed in our education? Many students end up with no sound character at all'. Teachers only lecture on their subjects and are not role models now-a-days. If students have no formative experience, teachers, let me suggest that we owe an apology and revise our life style!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
Uncle, I teach in an American School.I teach 2nd graders. Here we have "morning meetings" with the class where we discuss issues in the playground, set guidelines for ourselves (kids & teachers)and also discuss virtues like perseverance, honesty, responsibility, respect etc. We find that the students are responsive and it is a pleasure to teach these kids. In the same school however, when the kids reach middle school I feel they are given too much freedom at an age where they certainly need more guidance. As a result we see them displaying inappropriate behaviour and we can do nothing about it (school policy) since we are no longer their teachers and because they are adolescents now and their personal choices are none of our business. It is sad state of affairs. How I wish the good work we do in elementary school could be continued further up until they leave school!
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