The new school in Harihar

Robert Greenleaf says: “Not much happens without a dream, and for something great to happen there must be a great dream.” Mangalore Jesuit Educational Society envisioned the dream of establishing a school with a difference that would mould and guide future generations of enlightened minds and compassionate hearts. Thus was born St Aloysius International School, Harihar which was inaugurated on June 25, 2024 by Shri Thawarchand Gehlot, Governor of Karnataka and blessed by Most Rev. Francis Serrao SJ, Bishop of Shimoga.

St Ignatius of Loyola saw quite clearly that education can become an effective agent of transformation. He saw the school stage as potentially a rich area for assisting young minds and hearts to develop competence, commitment and compassion to face the demands of life in society and contribute to its growth.

Education in India is idealised as an object of fear and competition, wherein students and their parents wage a war to win a battle to earn money, fame and rank by selflessly sacrificing the innocence, childhood and, importantly, the ‘Self.’ The school is the foundation of an edifice called knowledge. It needs to generate interest, inquisitiveness and confidence among students so that their innate potential can be tapped. Therefore, it is imperative to reorient learning using the GRILL (General Knowledge, Reason, Imaginativeness, Logic and Language) framework. It is critical to graduate from the current spoon-feeding pedagogy towards a self-directed and self-learning process.

The mind of a child is a marvellous conduit – forever inquisitive and forever learning. There isn’t a single thing that a child doesn’t turn his perpetual sense of wonder to. If you have spent any time observing children, you’d know that they are born ready to learn. Because children learn rapidly during their early years, it is imperative that we give them the environment they can flourish in, along with love and affection, attention, encouragement, and mental stimulation. The right foundation in the right environment will ensure that the child will have a positive approach to learning. This creates greater motivation, harmony and peace among children. I wish St Aloysius International School, Harihar every success towards this endeavour.

- Dionysius Vaz SJ