The corridors of the school resonates with the chants of Sanskrit shlokas each day. Never mind the somewhat muddled and imperfect pronunciations, the spirit of the students, many of whom are not Indians, symbolizes the ideology of the Global Indian International School that offers global education with the Indian spirit.
The Global Indian Foundation, a Singapore-based non-profit organisation which established the first Global Indian International School six years back in Singapore, has now grown into a healthy network of 15 schools in seven countries with more than 17,000 students.
While most students are Indians, the school also gets students from as many as 30 countries. Four schools are in India and the rest across countries like Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Thailand and Singapore. The forte of the school lies in offering world-class education and a curriculum that moulds its students into confident individuals. However, care is taken that the Indian spirit is never lost.
So, for instance, it’s compulsory for all students to learn Sanskrit. Atul Temurnikar, chairman of the Global Indian Foundation, said that whether Indian or not, all students have to learn spoken Sanskrit in their schools. “Initially some students had reservations about learning Sanskrit shlokas, thinking that it was a religious exercise. But then everything fell into place and now all students recite the shlokas… Absolutely perfect pronunciation is a challenge for the non-Indian students, but they do it with spirit,” Temurnikar told IANS over an interaction in the capital.
All the Global Indian International schools also have a compulsory Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Values and Thoughts – a library of books on Gandhi. “Archives of old photos of Gandhi, books and other print matter are kept in the Gandhi resource centres – a compulsory feature in all the schools,” Temurnikar said.
Beyond Languages 
August 8, 2008 at 4:36 pm |
Thanks for sharing. I think you would be ideal as a faculty there.
August 8, 2008 at 10:57 pm |
સંસ્કૃતમાં આવી રમુજ પણ આવે છે
तर्हि कीदृशः राजा ?
कश्चिद् राजा सपरिजनः ससमारोहं क्वचिद् गच्छति स्म । मार्गमध्ये कोऽपि भक्तिमदमत्तः अवधू्तमहात्मा उपविष्टः आसीत् ।
आरक्षिणः तं मार्गात् अपसारयितुम् ऐच्छन्, किन्त स नैव अपसृतः । राजा स्वयं गजात् अवतीर्य, तत्रागत्य साधुम् अब्रवीत् -”राजमार्गात् अपसरतु”
महात्मा – कुतः ?
राजा – यतोऽहं सम्राट् ।
महात्मा – सम्राट् ? का विशेषता महाराजे श्रीमति ?
राजा – विशेषता ? अहं यं कमपि अस्मात् राज्यात निष्कासयितुं शक्नोमि ।
महात्मा – साधु । स्वकीयराज्यस्य सकलाः मक्षीमशकपिपीलिकाः आदेशेन निष्कासयतु ।
राजानं निरुत्तरं दृष्ट्वा महात्मा ईषत् स्मयमानः अब्रवीत् -”निष्कासयितुं न शक्नोषि किम् ? तर्हि राजा किदृशः ?”
राजा श्रद्धावन्तः महात्मानं राजप्रासादे पदार्पणार्थं प्रार्थयत । महात्मा राज्ञा सह प्रस्थितः । प्रासादस्य प्रवेशद्वारे शस्त्रधारिप्रहरिणः दृष्ट्वा महात्मा अपृच्छत् -”इमे अत्र कुतः तिष्ठन्ति ?”
“रक्षार्थम्” इति उत्तरम् प्राप्तम्
महात्मा पुनः सस्मितम् अब्रवीत् – “राजा तु बन्दी, राजा कीदृशः ?”
प्रासादे राजा ईश्वरसमक्षम् अञ्जलिं बद्धवा सुखसमृद्ध्यर्थं प्रार्थनां कर्तुमारभत ।
महात्मा प्रहसन्नब्रवीत् -”राजा तु भिक्षुकः, राजा कथम् !”
राजा अवधूतस्य चरणयोः अपतत् सत्यः सम्राड् भवेयम् इति सानुरोधं प्रार्थयत च ।
August 9, 2008 at 12:28 am |
Very good information. Thanks.
July 23, 2009 at 9:44 am |
Interesting to know about compulsory Gandhi and compulsory Sanskrit. Should compulsory *YOGA*, its the best.
March 2, 2010 at 3:30 pm |
Gosh…….you have just reprinted brochure material sent out by the school for advertising !