Education and Research: excerpts from a framework study

• Part 1 titled “The Vision and Challenge”, discusses Auroville’s foundational principles.

• Part 2, “The Vision of the City”, describes Mother’s quartet-city sketch and city concept, the features of the Galaxy, the urban question and the problems of town planning, known as ‘the elephants in the room’.

• Part 3, “A Sectoral Overview,” details issues of seven specific sectors: urban planning and infrastructure development, land acquisition, regional and outreach planning, housing, education and research, economy and commerce, and agriculture.

• Part 4, “Governance Reform '', provides insights into Mother’s ideals for Auroville’s governance, and contains proposals for the restructuring of the Residents’ Assembly and the reform of the Working Groups.

• Part 5 of the study has an interpretive scheme of the Auroville Foundation Act, 1988. 

Here we publish a few excerpts from the 67-page study on the Education and Research sector. Given the constraints of space, it was not possible to mention the study’s often extensive recommendations on inter-school linkages; teacher trainings; strengthening planning, peer-review and data collection; and the development of a tertiary educational sector so as to make Auroville a living ‘universal city’ as envisaged by The Mother.

The study gives a central place to Mother’s vision for Auroville as a centre for research and study. It places education and research as an embedded field of activity across all sectors of Auroville. This “imagines a living and vibrant public culture of seeking and research, backed by a strong material infrastructure, a complex web of tangibles and intangibles that can together generate fertile ground for the individual and collective yoga. A brotherhood aspiring for the descent of Knowledge – the ‘greatest sweat of knowledge upon Earth’. Few collectives come with this constitutional imprint, none at a city–scale or dedicated to the synthetic and terrestrial vision of Integral Yoga. In the words of The Mother, ‘the creation of a city like Auroville has more weight in the earth’s history than all the groups of the world’.”

The early years

The study gives a thematic summary of developments, starting with the early years when the land to build Auroville was being acquired in parcels and was not yet consolidated. Consequently, “schools and Aurovilians were scattered across varied places between Pondicherry and in early communities such as Aspiration” and there was “a healthy exchange between the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and the early education experiments in Auroville''. But with Mother’s passing, and rising tensions with the Sri Aurobindo Society, this collaborative model was disrupted. Simultaneously, the early years also witnessed a significant thrust in educational activities for the ‘first citizens of Auroville’ i.e., for people in the surrounding villages, notably in Morattandi and Edayanachavady.

Consolidation post 1984 

The situation changed after the 1980 ‘temporary takeover’, leading in 1988 to the Auroville Foundation Act. “The new administrative setup introduced a much-needed channel of funds and an opportunity to consolidate early educational activities into an institutional structure and government grants began to be released under the ‘Auroville Development Scheme’ (1985- 1999). Education emerged as a priority sector for the national government at the time, as the then Prime Minister sought to set up a Central University in the memory of Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry. Following this, on the proposal by the then Chairman of the Auroville Foundation Professor Joshi, the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Education Research (‘SAIIER’) was founded in Auroville in 1984. SAIIER was envisioned as an umbrella organization to coordinate and support capacity building and educational and research experiments being undertaken by existing and emerging schools in Auroville and nearby villages. Government aid thus began to flow into SAIIER under the national ‘Scheme of Assistance to the Institutions of Higher Learning of All India Importance’, beginning 1984 through 2002.”

The Pande Visiting Committee

Yadava’s study then extensively reports on the visit and report of the Visiting Committee, led by Professor Pande in 2002, to evaluate a detailed Plan Grant (funding) proposal of SAIIER, submitted to the Department of Higher Education, Government of India. “This Plan Grant Proposal and the Visiting Committee’s Report merit attention, as they represent a comprehensive action plan for Auroville’s education sector,” writes Yadava. 

The Plan Grant Proposal envisaged the development of seven Research Faculties: a Faculty of Education for Human Unity, a Faculty of Studies in Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, a Faculty of East, West and Human Unity, a Faculty of Indian Culture and Human Unity, a Faculty of Humanity, Nature and Development, a Faculty of Perfection of Human Body and a Faculty of Arts, Crafts and Technology. A substantial budget outlay of Rs. 29.26 crores was proposed for these faculties, indicating a major push to develop a research infrastructure. The report quotes General Chatterjee, the then-head of SAIIER, in relation to SAIIER’s plans to ‘grow into a world-class institute’, detailing ‘how the entire setting of Auroville provides a fitting environment and also the required personnel in the form of researchers, educationists, thinkers, philosophers, scientists, sociologists and specialists.’ The proposal also included the development of an ‘Apex Body’, the Centre of International Research in Human Unity (‘CIHRU’), which would “aim at convergence for researchers within SAIIER and around the world who are engaged in the theme of human unity.” Yadava’s study includes a detailed description of the work of each faculty and its expected output. 

The Plan Grant Proposal also suggested an embedded educational setup, with schools integrated in the various sectors of work in the city, which is “an important ideal for Auroville to experiment and develop today, both to translate Mother’s vision of unending education into institutional form and to leverage the city- environment that is uniquely suited to anchor such a model.” 

Another aspect of the Plan Grant Proposal was SAIIER’s aim to make ‘a major contribution to the world of education’, with an ‘experimental syllabus with regard to value-oriented education that can be adapted in any school programme.’ Auroville would lead curriculum development for teacher training and value-oriented education to service the educational needs of India. The Plan Grant Proposal included a draft curriculum for ‘Value-Oriented Education (Class I to XII)’, a draft curriculum for a ‘Bachelor of Arts in Applied Philosophy’, and a draft curriculum for ‘Value-Oriented Education Under the Teacher Training Programme’. The Report of the Visiting Committee noted that SAIIER’s envisaged programme for publications would benefit the country with a very rich treasure of resource materials “from which new kinds of books will be made available to millions of students and teachers of the country”. 

Government of India funding

On the lines of the Plan Grant proposal and the Visiting Committee’s report, substantial funding was approved by the Central Government. However, writes Yadava, “records indicate that most work-streams identified in the Plan Grant Proposal were not systematically developed, indicating accountability concerns: the seven research faculties were not organized along the lines proposed (and are, as of today, not in operation); curriculum development, publication of learning materials and development of teacher training programmes for broader use in India were not finalized; the stress on publication was met with limited success; and plans for CIHRU or the multi-disciplinary research framework too did not materialize”. 

Moreover, if expenditure till 2007 was equally spread between research, infrastructure development and teaching maintenances, subsequent years show a general decrease in research and infrastructure development spending. Post 2012, it appears that no development plans for the education sector were drafted, as government grants continue to flow in based on previous recommendations. Yadava concludes that the evolution of education planning in Auroville since 1984 reveals several challenges in relation to (i) the planning process (the nature and extent of consultations), (ii) implementation (improving the quality of human resources through capacity building and clear delegation of executive powers), (iii) a robust monitoring/review mechanism to assess progress vis-à-vis plan deliverables and (iv) the financial sustainability of running educational programmes in Auroville without reliance on government funds for recurring expenditure.

The study then describes the consequences of the infusion of government funds into Auroville. “The plans of the Auroville Development Scheme 1988-1995, and of SAIIER’s five-year plans 1997-2002, 2002- 2007 and 2007-2012 exhibited a two-fold focus: (i) building and strengthening pedagogy (along four areas viz. a new education (teacher-pupil relations, methods of assessment etc.), developing learning materials and a new syllabus, furthering research and promoting outreach) and (ii) infrastructure development (construction and upgradation of school campuses).” But an analysis of successive educational budgets also reveals an over-dependence on foreign donations and government grants (both Plan and non-Plan grants). “This dependence on government grants, given the limited surplus available from income-generating units, persists till date, with institutional risks tied to external funding,” writes Yadava.

Snapshot of the educational sector today

Nonetheless, while planned development is lagging (as in city-planning), the expansion and work of the educational sector continued through individual enterprise, with notable initiatives and work. As of the last available SAIIER Annual Report, the educational landscape in Auroville comprises 42 sub-units, including eight Auroville schools under the umbrella of the School Board, and six Outreach schools, six units or centres of research and a Teacher’s Centre for capacity building. The study does not contain observations on the qualitative aspects of schooling in Auroville – the pedagogical approaches and practices, particularly in relation to the five essays in Mother’s On Education, which is outside of its purview, but mentions that, “in general, the reflections of individual teachers across schools, reflected in the SAIIER Annual Reports demonstrate the dedication and of those involved in this sector and the vibrancy of the sector.” After describing eleven ongoing experiments, the report details a systemic concern, that the translation of these practices into documented research – that allows both critical evaluation and assistance to other setups in the country – is a challenge. “A more thorough study of the five layers of Mother’s ‘On Education’ and Sri Aurobindo’s ‘three principles’ in relation to schooling practices, conducted variably by individual schools over the years and begun more systematically SAIIER in its May, 2023 consultations with Auroville schools, presents an avenue to document, discuss and evaluate teaching practices across schools. This could serve as a pathway to a common pedagogical research handbook – an Auroville Schooling Handbook – and a curricular framework that may be offered to schools outside Auroville, as was originally proposed to the 2001 Visiting Committee.”

Retaining youth and certification

The study lists a number of challenges of Auroville’s education. A major one is retaining youth and certification. The absence of certification has led youth to the option of either pursuing higher education outside of Auroville or of staying back in Auroville to learn ‘on the job’ through apprenticeships in domains of interest. The study notes a preference for the first option, where it observes a significant rate of drop-out between primary level and high school, with the rate of the drop-outs for Tamil and Indian children appearing to be higher. “There is a trend of children dropping out post Transition School and choosing to either enroll in an Indian / foreign school board accredited school (CBSE/IGCSE/IB).”

The study argues, after an in-depth study of Mother’s comments on the topic, that She was not objecting to certification per se. “Mother’s concern is with a ‘utilitarian’ system of education that ties itself solely to monetary success or employment, one that does not value learning and the development of the learner’s faculties for their own sake.” The Mother, in a conversation of 17 July 1960, made it clear that those for whom the only thing that matters is to prepare themselves and learn how to earn money, are out of place at the Centre of Education of the Ashram. The study proposes that, in line with a globally developed body of literature on this subject, Auroville develops a sui generis certification system (an ‘Auroville School Certification and Accreditation’ system) that caters to the core tenets of the free progress method whilst validating ability and providing students the necessary support to enter professional fields of study outside Auroville if they so wish.

Research

Another challenge is the absence of sufficient educational research. The study notes that over the years twenty books of independent research have been published. But research is ad-hoc, lacking systematic research programmes, clusters or faculties that can absorb researchers. SAIIER’s policy for research grant allocation (in terms of supported areas, disciplines, outcome / impact etc.) is not clear, and there is no generally defined research agenda / medium or long-term research development plan across disciplines. The study also observes a lack of fellowship / funding opportunities to invite external researchers.

This concern was identified at the 2015 Retreat, where a ‘milestone’ to ‘transform SAIIER into a research organization’ by 2016 was planned. This has not happened. “From interviews, it seems that human resource constraints and the multiple roles played by teachers (as administrators and mentors) spare little time for dedicated research. As a result, there is a conspicuous absence of peer-reviewed research studies, of the kind published in leading national and international journals, whereby educational experiments in Auroville can speak to emerging developments elsewhere.” The report stresses the need for encouraging teachers and educationists to translate their experiments into writing and publish the research in order to generate well-documented knowledge from the on-ground experiences of working with children; contribute to the growth of knowledge and practice by eliciting feedback and learnings from other practitioners in the field; allow Auroville to concretise learnings over the years and generate a body of pedagogical knowledge that can sustain institutional memory; and put Auroville’s unique experiments ‘on the map’, which will aid in drawing aligned researchers and practitioners to Auroville to bolster efforts to increase population numbers. “In this context, Auroville may consider housing a peer-reviewed educational / pedagogical research journal, plugging a gap in India’s research landscape in general, with a yearly conclave – the Auroville Educational Research Conference – as a focal point for researchers from across the world, and reviving the publication of Ritam.”

Curricular Integration

The third challenge is the integration of Auroville’s founding ideals, history and philosophy, and current civic issues (in terms of urban planning, manifestation of the Galaxy, environmental conservation, outreach etc.) into the school curriculum, to enable healthy debate and informed opinions, to develop a cultural ethic that allows the next generation to effectively participate in city-building. This is particularly important because Auroville youth in most cases have not made a conscious decision to be here, unlike their parents, and may have a limited experience of life elsewhere which can serve as a model for comparison or choice. An understanding of Auroville’s founding rationale is thus necessary to allow the youth to evaluate matters objectively outside the usual frames of reference they may be accustomed to. This would require innovative curriculum development, with immersive participation and regular dialogue with those involved in each sector. The practice of integrating Auroville units within the curriculum may be considered, whether through service weeks, externships / apprenticeships with units, part-time faculty drawn from units etc., to develop a system of embedded learning, in line with The Mother’s ideals.

“The first and last marker of research and education in Auroville, its raison d’être, is knowledge sought on the inner journey through spiritual practice, a progressively expanding experiential identification with the Divine in the vast, complex and ineffable inner terrains.”