Where environment and education meet

A for Alternative, E for Education

Both images are by Ian Lockwood.

He is acknowledged for sharing them at a very short notice.

Thanks are due to Divya, Vaishna and Dinesh at The Hindu.

The Sholai school enabled this eye-opening week. 

To the entire team there – a big THANK YOU.  

Place below the longer version of the article which finds place in the Hindu Sunday Magazine - 23rd April, 2017. Article on The Hindu here.

Image: Ian Lockwood

“Get off the bus at Perumal Malai and start walking downhill; we are just 6 km away”. A welcome email that signified freshness, energy and fun. My week-long trip to the Sholai school turned out not very different. According to the website, “Situated in a beautiful valley close to Kodaikanal in the Palani Hills of Tamil Nadu the Sholai school follows an alternative approach to Education, inspired by the teachings of J. Krishnamurti. This involves a focus on creating an atmosphere in which children are encouraged to enjoy learning and to grow to be mature and sensitive individuals.”

Surfing the net had made me aware to the school having a river running through it, growing organic coffee and avocados. What had struck me was that it was not connected to the grid; in other words it generated the electricity it consumed. As usually happens, few days at the place not only brought forth the details and opened my eyes but also touched a chord somewhere deep within.

Morning assembly at the school itself - to put across briefly – made me jealous of the students. They begin with music or singing – one morning we listened to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan saab with the breeze of the Nilgiris and songs of the birds for company. These are followed with eye exercises; led by a separate student each day. We shut and opened our eyes tight, blinked them, looked alternatively at two objects – one near and the other far and also moved our hands in clock-wise and anti clock-wise direction, our eyes following. On a couple of mornings I came across students practising music and dance before the assembly!

One of the days, after the assembly, I joined the group which was assigned to take up waste segregation. Students and teachers, with their hands, sorted the waste that had been collected from across the campus. Some of it is sold in the market while some is creatively put to use – like for a bean bag. Idea is to involve children in all actions on the campus; to enable learning by doing. I had then wondered if there was a better way to make the concepts clear! Agriculture time has these students and teachers grow vegetables while Engineering has them design, create and repair items required on the campus including furniture and sheds. One afternoon they made a stand for the guitars they play during their Music time. Yes, most of the wood comes from within the campus!

Not all is outside and action. The school adheres to a time-table though there are no physical rooms allotted to classes. The teacher – student interactions are held at multiple open and covered spaces across the campus. Teachers treated students as equals – during one class, in the laboratory, the teacher put on music after asking students if it was ok with them. The positive effect of this approach on students was stark. Also flexibility in context of the text-books was apparent; teachers could invest more time on select topics as opposed to rush towards ‘completing the course’. My interest in environment education had me attend EVS classes.

Image: Ian Lockwood

EVS for the youngest level was fun. One of the students, prompted and guided by the teacher, would draw a figure on the board and the others had to figure it out. The student coming up with the correct answer got the opportunity to draw the next figure. This had them noisily excited. With a slightly elder level we went to check out the bunding in the higher parts of the campus. The rains had begun and it made sense to check out if water was being collected as envisaged. Ian Lockwood – photographer, author and educationist - writes of this on his blog, “Effective water management is a crucial aspect enabling success of the Sholai School experiment. The school uses surface water from streams, collects rain water and also has several wells, such that they are self-sufficient and free of any municipal or government water supply.” Sholai school follows the Cambridge syllabus. As I read the EVS text-book for the higher level I wondered on how what the students learnt on the campus was more forward looking and enlightening. The book appeared not only outdated but also bore the tone of the western world imparting gyan to the rest. Amongst others the text-book referred to moving away from farming and to cities as progress and looked at the biodiversity chapter with a financial lens!

Each evening the teachers and students played badminton, table-tennis and football. I had as much fun joining them as I had walking around the campus. Here I came across numerous avian species as also macaques enjoying jackfruits. Chatting with students made me aware to the mammals visiting the campus; the list includes elephant and gaur.

Sholai school on the one hand brings out that there is so much more to schools than marks, grades, mugging and board exams. On the other it shows how appreciation of and sensitivity towards the planet can be embedded in daily school lives and in a compelling and thought provoking manner. It walks the talk on its commitment to “integrating and balancing Educational and Environmental concerns” and provides a learning ground for many of us in education to open up our minds and get enthused.