Alternative Education- Lessons For Life

If alternative education had been a big-city idea till recently, it is now springing up even in small cities and towns. The alternative schools believe that every child is unique, and that her progress has to be free of any external pressure.

- Cithara Paul

Remember Totto-chan? The perky little Japanese girl in the namesake book by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi? Totto-chan got expelled from every school she was admitted to, because the teachers did not know how to handle the bundle of unrestrained energy. Redemption came through school headmaster Sosaku Kobayashi, who had unshakable faith that every child is unique and he treated the little souls with due respect. The school Tomoe had no fixed timetable, kids learnt the alphabet by writing their friend’s name, they planned their own day, started with any subject they liked, spent as much time on it as they wished, and played to their fill.

All these may sound almost like a fairy tale. But, such schools do exist and their numbers are increasing in India. Alternative schools are child-centric, and they are based on the concept of free progress, where every child progresses at his or her pace, devoid of any comparisons or pressure. And, teachers never preach; they only inspire. The term Free Progress was first used by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother (his most prominent French disciple Mira Alfasa), while explaining the philosophy of integral education. Integral education regards every child as a growing soul, and helps her to bring out the best within, and develop all facets of her personality. Now, it is generally used to describe an educational system where there is no external pressure or comparisons, where every child is treated as a unique soul and the whole emphasis is on free growth and natural development.