Urban Education

HOW CAN I CALL THEM POOR? Look at their open hearts, their generosity, the light in their eyes, their readiness to laugh and play with one another. They have a naturalness of being I don't find anywhere else. How can I call them poor? They have that kind of wealth, a kind of being that no one else has.

The only way to address the root cause of poverty is holistic education. Our services address the systemic sources of poverty while providing the foundation and resources for the poor to lift their own lives. Our goal is to stimulate awareness in those we serve of the gifts they already have, while supporting them in creating wealth, inner and outer, through their own efforts.

~Bodhi

Street Schools in Kolkata

Lokenath Divine Life Mission (LDLM) urban schools are held on the streets of Kolkata where the children live. Currently, there are about 200 children attending six schools held in various slums around Kolkata. LDLM works to eliminate child labor through education. It actively counsels parents on long-term benefits of sending their children to school rather than into the streets to beg or into the child labor market.

LDLM also imparts vocational training in mobile phone repair to local residents, particularly unemployed youths, so that they are self-reliant and are not involved in anti-social activities.

Rural Education

Bodhi’s primary criteria for selecting a teacher is her capacity for love, to be a real mother figure to the children. His intention, in his own words, is, "More important to me than what or how much they learn is how much they enjoy learning and leave school knowing they are loved, knowing they are seen and that they have personal gifts that are worth celebrating. That will give them the base from which to learn and succeed in life.”

LDLM is committed to bring the light of education to underprivileged sections of society, thus enriching their lives and strengthening their moral values. Its literacy and value-based education instills the joy of learning in the children it serves. Curricula include recreation, sports, excursions, dance, painting, yoga and meditation to channel the children’s energy and creativity, and to develop a sense of accomplishment. We coordinate with local schools to mainstream students into the primary level.

Pre-Primary Schools

80 Pre-Primary Schools in the Sunderbans’ delta villages are providing basic pre-school and value-based education to 2500 students. Yoga, pranayama, and meditation are integral part of the curriculum to strengthen the child’s ability to focus and accomplish chores with a calm mind. Flexible to the Core – Our LDLM yoga teacher, Nimai Biswas, and his students regularly undertake workshops and demonstrate how almost anything and everything can be accomplished with the human body through yoga and meditation. The Mission stresses imparting physical education for all-round development of healthy mind and body.

Primary Schools

LDLM has also started formal schools at the primary level to impart value-based education to the children belonging to the poorest sections of the society. For the children living in remote villages of Sundarbans, such as Sandeshkhali, Hingalganj & Gosaba, the Mission has developed twenty-six kindergarten schools that have qualified teachers. 1600 to 2000 students benefit every year. The Mission provides textbooks through Book Banks. Scholarships are provided every year for meritorious poor students to continue higher levels of education.

New School for Sunderbans

LDLM runs 108 schools in the Sunderbans of West Bengal, India. Students consistently excel in all their examinations in comparison to their peers in public schools. For the first time in its 36-year history, LDLM constructed a brick school building staffed with highly competent teachers and aides. The school can accommodate at least 100 primary and secondary students. The school also serves as a much-needed shelter for local homeless people in the severe cyclones that are common in the Sunderbans.

Women from SHG (Self Help Groups) are engaged in monitoring daily running of the schools in their respective localities. This measure has finally paid dividends. We set an example for other schools in these localities in terms of high education standards and discipline.