THE CHENNAI EDUCATION CENTRE

The School in Adyar, the core institution under The Chennai Education Centre,  was started in the year 1973. Today it is a full-fledged day boarding, co-educational school with students in Junior, Middle and Senior school, with distinctive programmes at all levels.

The school is located in a spacious campus in Adyar made available by The Theosophical Society. This privileged location permits rare opportunities to be with nature - ancient trees and vast spaces, communicating a sense of beauty and silence.

The School has an ambience that has been created for meaningful, interactions between adults and students to happen. About 325 students and 35 teachers constitute the school and about 20 non teaching staff.

The school has expanded its range of activities into rural health and education in both urban and rural contexts. The School is also in the process of establishing a 100 acre educational campus that is with residential facilities. With these movements The Chennai Education Centre has been  defined as the umbrella under which all the endeavours would function.

ABOUT PATHASHAALA

J.Krishnamurti had wished for a 100 acre residential campus. The land has been purchased for this endeavour about 75 Km from This campus is conceptualized as the residential wing of The School in Chennai. Both campuses would function together enriching and strengthening each other organically.

The land procurement is complete and construction is underway after the Foundation stone was laid on 25 January 2009. Educational work will commence in 2010. A free Primary school for the village children of the neighbourhood and a fee paying mixed-age middle school for children in classes 5, 6 and 7 are expected to commence simultaneously. The campus will soon incorporate a Krishnamurti study centre to provide an opportunity for those interested in the teachings to spend time in a quiet setting.

ABOUT OUTREACH - URBAN & RURAL

In 2005 it was decided to give formal shape to the school’s endeavours in this this area by appointing a coordinator. Since then the rural and urban dimensions of this area have grown significantly.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Tamilnadu, approached the school for inputs to revamp the middle school curriculum and methodologies. The suggested Active Learning Methodologies (ALM), based on the practices at The School, have been contextualized and taken in 2007 to over 16,000 schools (more than 50,000 classrooms) in all the tamil medium state schools.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Tamilnadu, have since then been working closely with the school for inputs to renew the material for the ABL primary classes, translation of this material into English, for extending the ALM processes into class 5 and also classes 9 and 10.

Around the villages of Kilapakkam and Vallipuram, in 5 village schools a rural nutrition programme has been instituted providing a nutritious kanji to over 800 children. This program is funded through donations of parents and well wishers.

As part of the urban outreach The School, in cooperation with the Theosophical Society, works for an understanding and appreciation of nature with a network of city schools.

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