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Sri Ramakrishna Vidyashala in Yadavagiri, Mysore, was founded in 1953. The institution is celebrating its Golden Jubilee for three days from today. The senior Monk of Sri Ramakrishna Ashram and its former President at Mysore, Swami Sureshanandaji and its present President Swami Atmavidanandaji shared their views on the institution and various aspects of education in separate interviews with our correspondent on the eve of the celebrations.

1. The age-old saying is that if a girl is educated, the whole family is educated. Why then is there no provision for girls' education in the Vidyashala?
Swami Sureshanandaji: It is not that Sri Ramakrishna Mission is not interested in girl's education. In its school in Chennai, Sharada Vidyalaya, exclusively for girls, which is not a boarding school, more than 4,000 are being educated. However, in view of certain constraints, provision has not been made for co-education in residential schools, supervised entirely by monks.

Swami Sureshananda and Swami Atmavidananda of Ramakrishna Vidyashala, Mysore

Swami Atmavidanandaji: The Vidyashala is a monastic institution. As a policy, girl students are not taken as boarders in it. However, Sri Ramakrishna Mission's schools for day scholars at many locations also provide education to girls, recognizing the value of the adage you are referring to. In the name of Sharadadevi, another institution with headquarters in Kolkata has come up for educating girls. The equivalent of nuns, namely Pravaraajikas, supervises the schools with guidance from the monks of Sri Ramakrishna Mission. There are 40 centres, including one in Karnataka at Bangalore.

2. There is a feeling that given the high cost of education in the Vidyashala, it caters only to the elite class. Is that feeling justified?
Swami Sureshanandaji: In a boarding school, the costs cover instruction, food, accommodation as well as a number of facilities needed for comprehensive education of the students including medical attention, a good library and infrastructure for sports. The costs compare with what a middle-income group family has to spend for education similar in quality to that of the Vidyashala. The surplus of the funds received from parents is ploughed back into meeting development of the Vidyashala, which has no other source of funds. About five lakh rupees are set apart each year for scholarships to merited students of the Vidyashala belonging to economically weaker sections of society.

Swami Atmavidanandaji: The charges collected from students of the Vidyashala here are exactly what it costs to provide education and other services in the institution. They have been worked out properly. The services of the monks to the Vidyashala are not charged for. Nearly 30 per cent of the students get different kinds of concessions and also merit scholarships. Rural students benefit from our financial schemes. The feeling of the public that Vidyashala caters only to the elite class is not justified.

3. It is said that the students of the Vidyashala, trained in a framework of righteous path, let go themselves when once they come out of it. What is the reality? Is the Vidyashala training not sustainable?
Swami Sureshanandaji: This is a point that has been raised by many. Yes, there have been cases of students letting themselves go in their lifestyle once they have moved out. It is like getting some spoiled fruits from a big lot. Plants yield fruits of both kinds. Please remember, even some boys brought up in their homes go astray. Although that is a sort of order of the day, students of the Vidyashala going a stray are just an aberration. We are aware of such students getting reformed and coming back to righteous ways.

Swami Atmavidanandaji: Almost all the alumni of the Vidyashala are known to be competent in facing the challenges of life with courage, fortitude and proper understanding. In rare cases, such as you have mentioned, we may call them effects of company that they keep in later life.

In some cases, again rare ones, it is possible that the family factors put our students in challenging situations. But, based on our experience of feedback from the alumni, we can say that our students are stable in life and upright.

4. Do the Vidyashala alumni give any feedback to it, including contributions in cash and kind?
Swami Sureshanandaji: That is a question I welcome. We needed funds of the order of three crore rupees to meet the cost of a few Golden Jubilee projects of the Vidyashala, including a building to commemorate the occasion. The alumni have responded to our appeal and I am happy to tell you that more than 85 per cent of contributions have come from them. There is an active Alumni Association of the Vidyashala.

Swami Atmavidanandaji: We have a strong Alumni Association with more than 2,500 members. The Vidyashala past students regularly attend the valuable 'retreat' sessions at the Ramakrishna Institute of Moral and Spiritual Education (RIMSE), which is also in the same campus. Our past students have felt that they were fully protected from the multitude of forces in society of which they became aware only after they moved out of the Vidyashala. But, they have shown remarkable ability in facing them.

The alumni will also meet on the third day of the Golden Jubilee celebrations. They have made a major contribution to the funds required for meeting the Golden Jubilee expenses.

5. Ramakrishna Vidyashala has become a model for schools. What is the vision for the future?
Swami Sureshanandaji: Initially, the Vidyashala had classes from the 6th standard to the 10th. It is now (for the past 23 years) having classes from 8th standard to second PUC, in which more than 400 students are studying. At present, we don't have plans of extending beyond PU class. Our priority will be to create more valuable infrastructure to improve the quality of instruction at all levels of the Vidyashala. It is our conviction that the students of the Vidyashala must benefit fully from the foundation of instruction they receive here and lead their later life in accordance with our spiritual heritage. Our records reveal that with minor exceptions, the Vidyashala students have pursued their further studies in professional courses.

Swami Atmavidanandaji: Our vision is focussed on raising the quality of education in moulding our students into models of good human beings. We are ever guided by the famous statement of Swami Vivekananda that education is the manifestation of the perfection that is already there in man. We have no plans of expansion, including going for professional colleges. The decisions are made at the head quarters.

6. Sri Ramakrishna Mission breathes spirituality. Do you have any difficulty in getting teachers who rhyme with that philosophy?
Swami Sureshanandaji: It is our good fortune that all through the fifty years of the Vidyashala, we have been able to get competent teachers. Nearly three-fourths of the teachers are provided living quarters. They are committed to their teaching profession. The teachers ungrudgingly work for longer hours than formally required. They voluntarily bestow special attention to students with learning difficulties by guiding them beyond the school hours. The students are immensely pleased with the way the teachers instruct them.

Swami Atmavidanandaji: Although teachers come from different backgrounds, once they start their work-life in the institutions of Ramakrishna Mission, they soon fall in line with the outlook of the Mission. There has not been any difficulty in finding ideal teachers for working in our schools. The teachers, a small number of them, may have some grudges about their emoluments and the demand made of them in their professional work. They are not of serious nature. They are not exploited.

7. Has there been cases of dropouts from the Vidyashala?
Swami Sureshanandaji: Dropout has been very rare, may be one or two each year. Such cases are those who are very much attached to their parents and unable to adjust to the new ambience of the Vidyashala. However, there have been many cases of students who have come back after a short break.

Swami Atmavidanandaji: Dropouts, if any, are found in very small numbers only in the first year due to homesickness. Except for extraordinary reasons such as health, all students who adjust to the Vidyashala atmosphere initially go through the full course. Majorities of the students are from Karnataka.

8. What do the cross-section of parents of the Vidyashala students say about the nature of instruction here?
Swami Sureshanandaji: We receive a large number of letters every year in appreciation of the Vidyashala's contributions to the moulding of students into good citizens. Of them, we have noticed two types. One type appreciates in the immediate period and the other type of appreciation has come at a later period of their life.

Swami Atmavidanandaji: We regularly hold meetings with parents. There are no cases of parents dissatisfied with the nature of education their children get in the Vidyashala. In cases of some misgivings, they are clarified by explaining the value of every side of the course the students receive.

9. Do students coming from families belonging to different religions adapt to the Vidyashala life?
Swami Sureshanandaji: There being absolutely no discrimination among the students of families following different religions, the students have no difficulty in not only adapting to the Vidyashala life but also living harmoniously. There is not even a semblance of casteism in the Vidyashala. Further, there are no restrictions for any students to go to places of worship of their choice during their stay in the Vidyashala.

Swami Atmavidanandaji:The Vidyashala students come from all religious backgrounds. No discrimination is made on grounds of religion. They are free to visit the places of worship of their choice during their school-life on holidays. Even, there are monks who come from all religious faith. Only, they receive the 'mantra deeksha' from the Ramakrishna Mission.

It is written in our rulebook that no one who criticizes other religions can become a member of the Mission. We accept all religions as true, Swami Vivekananda declared as such at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. It is not just tolerance, it is acceptance

Courtesy: Star of Mysore