Page 48 - EducationWorld June 2022_Neat

Cover Story

“JK's teachings are universal & eternal” Admittedly we are somewhat media
shy and averse to promotion of our
schools for commercial purposes.
ilip Thak ore interview ed However we have never been unwill-
Vishwanath Alluri, ing to share our best practices as
Dformer tec hnop reneur and evidenced by our extensive and con-
c urrently trustee- sec retary of the tinuous community betterment and
K rishnamurti F oundation I ndia outreach programmes that are inte-
(K F I ), on the foundation’ s sy lvan grated into the curriculums of KFI
V asant V ihar, Chennai c amp us schools. We have trained thousands
w here K rishnamurti delivered of government school teachers and
hundreds of disc ourses on the art of others in our rural education meth-
living and educ ation. Ex c erp ts from odology. Moreover, two years ago we
the 9 0 - minute interview . introduced KFI’s online ‘Role of a
Teacher in School’ programme under
KFI was established 93 years ago. What which for a modest fee we have
are the aims and objectives for which the trained 200 persons in batches of
foundation was promoted? 60-70 to understand holistic learning
KFI (formerly Foundation for New grounded in Krishnaji’s teachings.
Education) was established in 1928 This is an ongoing program with two
to publish and archive the teachings Alluri (left) with Dilip Thakore batches being trained annually.
of Krishnaji. Soon after the foun-
dation promoted the Rishi Valley KFI schools don’t seem to have produced
School, a co-ed boarding school communities and helping govern- alumni who have made significant impact
grounded in the teachings of Krish- ment schools to upgrade teaching- in politics, industry, arts and science.
naji. Since then the foundation has learning. What’s your comment?
promoted the Rajghat Besant School, We don’t track the worldly success
Varanasi (1934), The School KFI, In many ways JK was a pioneer path- of our alumni. The objective of KFI
Chennai (1973), The Valley School, breaking education philosopher. What schools is to develop our students
Bangalore (1976), Sahyadri School, would you say was the essence of his into holistic individuals at peace with
Pune (1995), and the Pathashaala, education philosophy? their inner selves, society and nature.
Vallipuram, near Chennai (2010) Krishnaji’s teachings cover the whole Our schools have substantially at-
with an aggregate enrolment of field of existence. Education of tained this objective while simultane-
2,000 students mentored by 270 children is an important part of his ously producing excellent academic
teachers. The number of children teachings and it is to provide holistic results. This is because we recruit
in every school is small because we education that prepares children highly qualified and wholly commit-
accord high importance to individu- to develop into good human beings ted teachers to implementing bal-
alised attention and healthy teacher- who live orderly lives. Conven- anced, holistic learning grounded in
pupil ratios. tional education is too academic and Krishnaji’s teachings. Our educators
competitive and educators tend to ensure that their students learn to
How satisfied are you that these aims and ignore development of the inner self develop into introspective, reflective,
objectives have been attained? of children. Krishnaji taught that compassionate human beings who
There’s no end point in this process schools should be leisurely learning live orderly lives and also succeed in
of keeping the schools grounded in institutions where harmonious rela- their chosen vocations.
Krishnaji’s teachings. It is a continu- tionships with people and nature are
ous journey and a way of living for all built. Therefore, all KFI schools are Looking ahead, what are the future
those involved in the work. set in flourishing nature-friendly en- growth and development plans of KFI?
However, though a lot needs to vironments. Initially established on To attract teachers who share the
be done, I believe that we are on the barren despoiled land, our teachers values and spirit of JK’s teachings.
right path in terms of dissemination and children have worked coopera- The trustees and institutional heads
of his teachings. Despite the lesser tively to convert their campuses into of KFI believe that JK's teachings are
attention span of current generation flourishing bio-diverse ecosystems. universal and eternal. Instances and
of children because of the distrac- Moreover all KFI schools have exten- reports of man’s inhumanity to man
tions of the internet and popularity sive neighbourhood and community are multiplying not only in India but
of the social media, KFI schools are development programmes which en- around the world. Simultaneously,
doing well academically and in terms able our students to learn by doing. man-created ravages of environment
of learning to live in harmony with despoliation and climate change are
other children and with nature. In A criticism of KFI schools is that they threatening the survival of human-
KFI’s education centres and schools, are media shy and publicity averse and kind. We believe that Krishnaji’s
educators and students accord high unwilling to share their best practices to teachings on education and the art
importance to community outreach improve the education system. To what of orderly living can light the path
programmes such as enabling local extent if any, do you agree? ahead.

48 EDUCATIONWORLD JUNE 2022