“The ideal of the Bal Vikas is to raise a generation of boys and girls who have a clean and clear conscience. Bal Vikas is the primary basis of the great movement to restore Dharma in the world. The young minds of children are not polluted and hence they can be led into good ways of living, into simplicity, humility and discipline… Help them understand the five human values, so that they can practice these in their daily lives; Guide them to Love all and Serve all. In short help them grow into worthy citizens to serve the world; identifying the divinity present in all. Education must aim at providing the child not livelihood, but, a life worth living. The promotion of human values must become an integral part of the educational process” – Sathya Sai Baba
Sri Sathya Sai Bal Vikas/Sai Spiritual Education (SSE) was launched in 1969 by Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba. It is an extra-curricular spiritual and moral Education Programme run by the Education Wing of the Sri Sathya Sai Service Organisation in its Sathya Sai Centres worldwide. It is a programme for children (4-15 years) of all faiths to enable them to manifest their own inner Divinity.
The Aims of Sai Spiritual Education / Bal Vikas are:
1. To foster character development and spiritual transformation.
2. To inculcate habits of discipline and self-discipline so that students learn to be masters, rather than slaves, of the mind and thus have absolute control over the sense organs.
3. To engender in children a desire to be of service to humanity and in this way to be of service to God by helping them learn about life and teachings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.
4. To cultivate humility, practise ceiling on desires, and render selfless service.
5. To train them to be able to discriminate between right and wrong, between truth and non-truth; that is to always follow the inner promptings of the Divine.
6. To help children be fully aware of the Unity underlying all faiths and all mankind.
7. To guide all children to have purity and harmony in Thought, Word and Deed.
8. To help children realise their conscience and follow that as the path for attaining Divinity.
9. To give priority to the development of character, self-confidence and self-sufficiency.
10. To foster the understanding and practice of the five inherent human values of Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Love and Non-Violence.
Method – The programme uses Five Teaching techniques: Prayers, Meditation, Story Telling, Group Devotional Singing and Group Activities to develop and promote the Human Values of Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Right Conduct), Shanthi (Peace), Prema (Love) and Ahimsa (Non-violence) which are inherent within the children. These techniques train the children from an early age to quieten their minds so as to be able to listen to the voice of their conscience. When put into practice the children gain self-confidence, attain excellence and acquire the quality of leadership. The Five Teaching Techniques play a vital role in the total development of the personality of the child.
The SSE curriculum is structured according to the needs of different age groups:
Nursery Group: Age 4-6 years
Group 1: Age 6-9 years
Group 2: Age 9-12 years
Group 3: Age 12-15 years
Group 4: Age 15-17 years
These age groups are further split into year groups to facilitate effective teaching and learning.
Timings
Our SSE classes at Sri Sathya Sai Centre Harrow West are held every Sunday from 3:15pm – 4:30pm and are mostly in line with the school term. SSE students are encouraged to participate in the various activities of the Centre such as leading Bhajans, reading the weekly ‘Thought of the Day’, Veda Chanting, enacting plays during special programmes, musical presentations when celebrating festivals, Sports Day / Family Fun Day to name a few. The SSE students also enjoy taking part in the various service activities organised by the Sai Centre for example, Seva at the Hare Krishna Temple farm.
How to get involved
Please contact us if:
1. You are a parent and interested in enrolling your child.
2. You are interested in becoming a SSE teacher or SSE helper.
For further information please contact us : SSE@harrowwestsaicentre.org.uk