Schools
The establishment of schools has been a significant feature of Bahá’í experience in the field of development. More than 800 Bahá’í-inspired academic schools are currently operating worldwide. Over half of these are in Africa, about 200 are in Asia, some 100 are in Australasia, and a few dozen are in the Americas and in Europe. These educational centers exist in a variety of settings and range from simple kindergartens serving tens of children to large schools at elementary and secondary levels offering education to thousands of students. All aim at academic excellence, place special emphasis on service to the community through the application of moral values and spiritual principles, and strive to meet the particular needs of the society in which they operate. A few examples from various parts of the globe illustrate how the schools are attempting to put these ideals into practice.
Located in Brazil’s capital city, Brasilia, the School of the Nations provides academic instruction in English and Portuguese to over 850 students attending nursery school through grade 12. Community service is at the heart of the school’s program, as staff and students alike strive to put high ideals into action. By way of example, the school provides assistance to a number of kindergartens in the city, helping them to beautify their surroundings and enhance their educational activities.
“Among the greatest of all great services is the education of children, and promotion of the various sciences, crafts and arts.”
—‘Abdu’l-Bahá
In West Africa, Lycee Enoch Olinga in Niamey, Niger, offers preschool through secondary education to around 450 students. In addition to being considered one of the foremost academic institutions in the country, the school has found various ways it can extend its efforts beyond its own student population. It has gained experience, for instance, in collaborating with other schools in the city by providing training to their teachers, and has more recently been considering ways in which it can support the establishment of schools in rural areas of the country where there is limited access to quality formal education.
The New Day School in Karachi, Pakistan, was established in 1978 with just three students. It now offers a complete primary and secondary program with an enrollment of over 700 students. A group of students first took the public examination conducted by the Board of Secondary Education in 1991, and since that time, the school has maintained a distinguished record of academic achievement. Its moral development program from early childhood through secondary school helps to cultivate within students a spirit of service to humanity.
In Tonga, the Ocean of Light International School offers pre-tertiary grade levels to some 400 students, with an aim of raising individuals who not only excel academically but also develop exemplary habits and spiritual qualities that can be channeled toward service to their local communities and society at large. Beyond receiving the support of parents, the school’s approach has also gained official recognition from the nation’s Minister of Education.
Striving to integrate academic and moral education
With modest beginnings, the School of the Nations in Macau originally operated out of an apartment with seven teachers and five students in 1988. Currently, it offers education to over 600 students from kindergarten to high school. Over the years, the school has come to be known for providing a high standard of academic education and has received awards at both the national and international levels for its character development program.
Since its establishment, the initiators of the school recognized the need for an educational approach that develops the intellectual powers of students together with the moral and spiritual foundations that can guide them through life. Rather than viewing moral education as a standalone class, the school has been focused on ensuring that elements of moral education, including principles such as kindness towards others, service to one’s community, honesty, generosity, and unity and harmony, are woven into all aspects of its academic instruction. Placing emphasis on raising up students who could contribute to the well-being and progress of their society, the school also incorporates service projects as a critical component of the curriculum. Through study and practical service, the school’s program aims to assist students to learn to identify local needs and engage in projects to improve the material and social reality of their community. A pattern of study, action, and reflection among the staff enables the school to learn from experience and make modifications over time. The school has also been collaborating with other schools in the vicinity, inviting them to explore particular concepts, such as the harmony between science and religion, the oneness of humankind, and the independent investigation of truth, that have proven especially effective in enhancing the quality of their operations as well as the content of their curricula.
Networks to facilitate the flow of learning
Over the years, a number of spaces have emerged to assist similar schools to learn from each other, from the local to the international level. These spaces have prompted schools to reflect on the implications of spiritual principles on their efforts, make refinements to their curricula and administration, and explore new ways to engage with parents and the wider community, conceiving of all actors as active protagonists in shaping the education of the students.
In the United States, a network of micro-schools began as a natural outcome of conversations between a teacher offering moral education classes and the parents of participating children. Beginning with a few children in a homeschool group, the efforts were gradually formalized, and a Bahá’í-inspired private school offering classes from kindergarten through high school was licensed. The founders of the initial effort developed relationships with neighborhood communities as well as local groups interested in learning about the micro-school model. The formation of this network assisted individuals to identify teachers who could start their own micro-schools and allowed those involved to learn from one another’s experiences. Central to the mode of operation and mission of these schools is the conviction that service to one’s community and the oneness of humanity are fundamental aspects of human nature. Efforts to overcome racial prejudice within society also constitute a large aspect of the schools’ mandate.
In the city of Pointe-Noire in the Congo Republic, a collaborative network emerged among eleven Bahá’í-inspired community schools as the initiators of these schools met regularly to reflect and consult together. Through this network, which includes teachers and members of management committees, the schools have been able to exchange insights and facilitate a flow of resources between them to ensure constancy in education. Teachers and administrators are also learning to contribute to educational discourses unfolding in the area.
In India, a group of 20 schools from across the country has come together for regular seminars, hosted by the New Era High School in Panchgani, to articulate what they have been learning about providing high-quality education, especially around how to raise young people known for their academic excellence and spirit of service to society. Their discussions center around the various institutional capacities required to translate the ideals contained in the Bahá’í teachings into the curriculum and functioning of a school. An outcome of this process has been that a number of these schools have been inspired to contribute to networks of schools in their own local states.
At the continental and international levels, the Bahá’í International Development Organization has also arranged gatherings for groups of schools to come together to explore areas of learning such as identifying and training teachers, infusing spiritual concepts into curricula, enhancing a school’s relationship with parents and the wider community, and strengthening relationships with government and civil society.
