Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have written extensively about education. The whole process of evolution that Sri Aurobindo and the Mother talk about, not only a physical evolution, but a spiritual evolution is a process of learning and in fact it is on this basis of ‘unending education’ that Auroville is founded upon.
When we look at education in context of development of a new conciousness, we have several aspects that are detailed by first Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, and then by educators like Sri Kireet Joshi, Partho, Neeltje Huppes and others. Within the vision of schools in Auroville, the Mother envisioned the Last School, After School (1,2 & 3), Super School and No School, perhaps as a way of expressing the need to go beyond the present schooling paradigm (and therefore the names like last, after,super and no) and the same time emphasising on the evolution of the kind of education which itself remains unending.
With this as the vision, the schools of Auroville initiated the project of ‘After School’ for the students graduating from the schools of Auroville to provide them an opportunity to work and learn within a unit of Auroville to gain practical experience of work and learning, especially as formal higher education does not exist in Auroville.
AuroOrchard is one such collaborating unit which offers the space for young students to spend an year or more to immerse themselves in the field of agriculture, learn on and from the land and understand the various complexities of the food ecosystem in Auroville and the world.
Call for program 2022-23
For more details, contact anshul@auroville.org.in