Sansar Gyaan Pathshala School

Sansar Gyaan Pathshala, which means ‘World Knowledge Lessons’ is the name of our school. The school was the creative idea of Yogrishi Vishvketu to provide education in a rural area of Northern India, where many children, especially girls, would not otherwise go to school. With support from the Akhanda Yoga family, Guru Ji’s dream of building the school became a reality.

The organization is funded by generous donations from ashram guests, Akhanda students and YTT graduates. At present, we have a fully operational school, accommodating up to 300 children. Our school is non-sectarian and multi-faith, welcoming all children with diverse backgrounds. It is located near the village of Pritamgarh, about 2 hours from Rishikesh in northern India. Our families live in rural villages within a 6 km radius. Most students walk up to 3 km each day to get to school. Our students come mainly from farming families.

The children receive a quality of education above that of standard state schools.

Our goal for the future is to create a sustainable community and contribute to making a positive change in the world.

Projects

Women’s Empowerment

Before our school was built most of the local girls did not attend any school. Many parents believed that education was wasted on girls because their ‘purpose’ was to get married and have children. Having female children was even seen as a burden, and women and girls were not highly valued.

When our school was first established parents would only register their boys. So, a rule was created in the first couple years that if a boy came to the school, he also had to bring a girl with him (a sister, cousin, friend or neighbour). Our school staff also visit the surrounding villages regularly to meet the families and share the value of educating women.

We are very proud and happy to witness the growth and success at the school and community with just the empowerment work we have already done. We no longer need to maintain the one girl for every boy rule, as parents are now happy and comfortable with sending their girls to the school.  Our girls are more attentive, achieve higher grades and are more goal oriented because they understand and appreciate their opportunity to attend school, and feel the need to prove themselves able. They are more independent and self assured, and are already changing community attitudes.

Our girls have become highly respected in the school community, and many of the girls who have graduated from Sansar Gyaan Pathshala are continuing on with their education at a nearby inter college. This college previously did not accept girls, but because of the impact Sansar Gyaan Pathshala has had on the larger community and the quality education the girls receive there, they have been accepted.

Community

Families are proud and grateful that their children attend the school, and there’s been a notable shift in values along with education, particularly a sense of pride and respect for themselves, the community and the world around them. This transition is noticed in monthly parent-teacher meetings and when visiting the children’s homes. Educating one child has a larger effect than just that child, it educates the whole family. Indian culture in these rural villages is all about openness and sharing. Families are closely connected and with less distractions than in the city (few electronics, children stay home in the evenings, etc.) they share and talk about everything the children learn at school, thus the education the children receive is spread within the community. Community support for the school and the children is very strong. Everyone has each other’s back, and the school provide a central point for this, bridging people together regardless of social status, religion, gender etc. In this way our goal of fostering inclusion has been quite successful.

With your help we have made tremendous progress! We need ongoing support to provide for the children; it really does take an international village to make this work. You can continue to help us by making a donation*.

Thank you for your support.

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