Aims of Education

J. Krishnamurti's philosophy of education, reflected in the activities of Rishi Valley Education Centre, is best expressed in his own words:

The purpose, the aim and drive of these schools, is to equip the child with the most excellent technological proficiency so that the student may function with clarity and efficiency in the modern world. A far more important purpose than this is to create the right climate and environment so that the child may develop fully as a complete human being. This means giving the child the opportunity to flower in goodness so that he or she is rightly related to people, things and ideas, to the whole of life. To live is to be related. There is no right relationship to anything if there is not the right feeling for beauty, a response to nature, to music and art - a highly developed aesthetic sense.

I think it is fairly clear that competitive education and the development of the student in that process . . . are very, very destructive. We must be very clear in ourselves what we want - clear that a human being must be the total human being, not just a technological human being. If we concentrate very much on examinations, on technological information, on making the child clever, proficient in acquiring knowledge while we neglect the other side, then the child will grow up into a one-sided human being. When we talk about a total human being, we mean not only a human being with inward understanding, with a capacity to explore, to examine his or her inward state and the capacity of going beyond it, but also someone who is good in what he does outwardly. The two must go together. That is the real issue in education: to see that when the child leaves the school, he is well established in goodness, both outwardly and inwardly.
— Krishnamurti on Education

The intention of the school, in other words, is to awaken the intelligence and the generosity of spirit in students so that they are able to meet an increasingly complex world without losing their humanity. The cultivation of a global outlook, a love of nature and a concern for mankind are all part of our educational aims. More specific goals of the educational philosophy of Rishi Valley School are:

  • To educate students so that they are able to explore both the world and their inner being
  • To inculcate a love for nature and respect for all forms of life
  • To create an atmosphere of affection, order and freedom without either fear or license
  • Not to condition the students in any particular belief, either religious, political or social, so that their minds may remain free to ask fundamental questions, enquire and learn.

Based on this philosophy, teachers attempt to create an atmosphere of space, freedom, care and security in which students are helped to enlarge their horizons and grow.

The school is concerned with developing the individual talent and intelligence of each student.

We feel that it is important for parents to be aware equally of their children's talents as well as limitations, and allow them to develop in their own way, and not on the basis of predetermined expectations.