" If 90 days could make the world l literate, would you not do it?" - Dr. Sunita Gandhi

SNS Summary

WHAT IS SUMPOORN NAI SHIKSKA (SNS)?

"Education is a continuous and creative process. It’s aim is to develop the capacities latent in human nature and to coordinate their expression for the enrichment and progress of society."

"Sumpoorn Nai Shiksha (SNS)" or "All-encompassing New Education (ANewEd)" was conceptualized as a first step towards an education that addresses not only a person's intellectual/material needs, but also provides him with human/social perspective, and addresses his spiritual need.

Instead of addressing the mind alone, the foundation of education in the 21st century must be built upon the four factors that make a complete human-being - the heart, the spirit, the mind and the body. The order of priority must follow a humanistic approach, placing the individual at the center of all action. This will be different to the model that has been in practice until now, where pupils have been forced into academic straitjackets, completely ignoring the uniqueness and individuality of human identity and its potential to contribute to human welfare.

It is designed as a flexible, adaptable program (a living, breathing entity) that can be improved through time with feedback mechanisms and moulded according to individual group needs without a compromise of the principles for which it stands.

It has been designed initially as a 7-point empowerment program for the underprivileged and the illiterate populations of India, with special emphasis on education of the girl-child.

The universal model for education that we must strive to achieve must include:

  • Universal Values – virtues of the spirit that transcend all cultures
  • A Global Understanding and Perspective – that will lead to a change in attitude, helping the human spirit to overcome barriers of prejudice, communalism and a narrow nationalism
  • Excellence in All Things – with a special emphasis upon the striving of the human mind for knowledge, innovation and change, drawing upon each person’s unique mix of capabilities
  • Service to Humanity – exploiting human skills and the functions of the body in projects that are at once consultative and participatory and directing human potential to a wider consciousness than current education aims to provide
  • The 7 – Point educational framework for Sumpoorn Nai Shiksha consists in essence of these four building blocks of education as above and the 3R’s – Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. It places more importance to the habits of the heart and attitudes towards life and learning, than towards mere abilities of the mind, as education in the past has emphasized.
  • The curriculum is an integration of these seven points in a unique program that defines "outcomes" and the development of certain "fundamental capabilities and skills" in each individual, such as the ability to take concepts to reality, the ability to make the right choices, to work consciously for the common good, develop a love for beauty, respect for others and the environment, and to work and live with diversity, among others.
  • Targeting the rural uneducated, the first version of this is a 2.5 year program for a grade-5 proficiency in reading, writing and arithmetic. Built within it is a one-year "whole literacy" package which can be taught on its own where needed.

 

Why SNS

  • 110 out of 175 million school-aged children in India are illiterate
  • Conflicts, violence, drug abuse, crime have all been on increase
  • Knowledge is expanding but wisdom languishes
  • National education systems are postulated on beliefs from pre-nuclear, pre-global perceptions
  • There is an alarming and growing gap between rich and the poor, a basis for continued and increasing conflicts
  • There is a lack of morality and moral perspective

 

SNS Team

SNS Convenor

  • Dr. Sunita Gandhi, President, The Council for Global Education

Development Team Members

  • Mrs. Ritu Kumar, Head Innovation Dept, CMS And her Brilliant Staff
  • Mrs. Saroj Singh, Facilitator SNS
  • Mrs. Rachna Kaur, Associate Facilitator, SNS
  • Several CMS/DEVI/CGE members and departments
  • Several members of key organizations/NGOs nationally

Special Contribution

  • Dr. (Mrs.) Bharti Gandhi, Founder-Director, CMS
  • Mrs. Aruna Varma, Associate Inspectoress, CMS
  • Ms. Vandana Gaur, Coordinator Moral Education, CMS
  • Dr. Mini Goel, Mr. Amitab Chakraborty, and Tony Castleman, DEVI

Advisors

  • Mr. Praveen Sharma, IAS, PS
  • Dr. Kanchan Lata Sabbarwal, Educator
  • Dr. Sheema Rizvi, Minister, UP
  • Dr. Dau Ji Gupta, Former Mayor, Lucknow

SNS Leaders of Focus Groups A multi-NGO team

  • Technical/Vocational Team -- R.B. Chauhan, Irshad Ahmad
  • Inspirational -- Nandan Thakur, Sushila Pathak
  • Language -- Ramesh Bhai, Dr. Manjulata Vishkarma
  • Sports, Games -- Vishwakarma Lawkush
  • Teaching Methods -- Mrs. Manju Pandey, Neeta (SEWA)
  • Student Work Sheets -- B.B. Das
  • Teacher Training -- Shahina Khan

 

Total Literacy

REDEFINING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE LITERATE AND EDUCATED IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Ultimately, the purpose of SNS is to redefine what it means to be literate and educated in this new millennium.

The new concept of literacy must include not only the development of intellectual ability through knowledge of the 3R’s, for example, it must at the same time provide a new perspective – a perspective based on the four building blocks of education – universal values, global understanding, excellence in all things, and service to humanity. It will be a combination of capabilities built upon values, attitudes, knowledge and skills that address all aspects of an individual’s development: heart, soul/spirit, mind and the body.