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1.What is Purna Vidya?
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Purna
Vidya is the first attempt of its kind in imparting a value based
cultural education to children. It helps to understand the rich
cultural heritage of our country in keeping with the Vedic vision.
It is a guide for schools, families and communities that wish to
teach cultural heritage to children in an authentic, systematic
manner.
The programme is accompanied by a instructional chanting tapes in
order to help the teacher / parent and the children learn proper
recitation of the lokas / mantras given in the books.
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2.What is the Need for Cultural
Education?
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No
educational system is complete without imparting the wisdom of
living. We may receive education in Science, Technology and
humanities without any insight into what is right living. A person
who has facility in a given discipline of knowledge may be an informed
person, but not necessarily an educated person. Education implies a
value for learning and growth.
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3.Is the Present Day Education
System Complete?
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Essential
principles of our culture and heritage, exposure to various value
structures and beliefs form an important part of education. The
moral / cultural education therefore is indispensable to make education
complete in the real sense of the term. Only such an education can
give one an inner fulfilment.
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4.As a Child, I did not Grow Up
Studying a Programme on Culture,
Yet I Have No Problem About Culture!
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Vedic
tradition pervades in and through the culture. The culture that
touches every aspect of one's life is not taught formally in Indian
schools but grows upon a person as he or she grows up in this
cultural environment. In olden days this culture was imbibed
naturally from parents and grandparents within one's immediate
community. Hence the need to understand the cultural and religious
forms in order to educate their children was not felt.
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5.How Can I Teach My Children When I
Myself Do Not Know?
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The
Vedic Heritage Teaching Programme provides all the information
required for one to teach the subject matter. Guidelines for
parents and teachers on how to teach the programme in a systematic
manner are also given. The subject matter has been organised in to
three volumes of twelve parts, tailored to suit the ages of the
children. Each volume offers subject matters relevant to the
child's age and level of comprehension.
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6.Is This a Programme on Religion?
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This
is cultural education. Language, dress, home, food, customs,
manners and fine & performing arts are the elements that constitute
the culture of a given group of people. None of these need to have
anything to do with religion. The culture of the people of India is religious. Even
Indians who are committed to faiths like Christianity and Islam
have essentially the same culture. The Indian culture will
disappear if its constituent elements are devoid of any religious
content.
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7.What is the Necessity of This
Programme in Schools?
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Growing
up in the modern society implies exposure to the global cultures,
being exposed to the media. With modernisation and urbanisation and
the shrinkage of family units, children do not have the same
opportunity as their parents and earlier generations did to know
and understand the Vedic culture. Children therefore need to study
their heritage in an instructive and deliberate way if they are to
imbibe it in their own lives. In this situation, we have no alternative
but to provide them an opportunity to learn about the culture in a
classroom situation.
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8.How Can Educational Institutions
Participate?
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Schools
can take up this programme and implement it according to their
convenience from standards one to plus two. Once a week the school
can have a Vedic Heritage period. The school may have the text book
for the teachers and students. Teachers are also provided with
teaching Guidelines (Tools) for the corresponding text books.
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9.How do the Children Relate to the
Programme?
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The
programme has supplementary teaching tools to make learning easy
for children. By playing with the games and exercises in the text
book, the children will not only learn Vedic Heritage but also the
art of learning. The exercises cover topics parallel to the text
material. They illustrate the same ideas through word-search games,
puzzles, fill-in-the-blanks, circle the right answer, match the
columns, journal writing, field-work, points to ponder and many
more. These would help review the topics covered and encourage
participation among children. Children can also enact the play
given during any school function.
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10.Does the School Require Separate
Vedic Heritage Teacher?
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The
teachers who are already handling any moral instruction classes in
the school can teach Vedic Heritage. Once a year the school can
send their teachers to our Teachers Training Seminars regularly
held at Arsha Vidya Mandir, Chennai. The seminar will give the
teachers an insight into the subject matter and equip them with the
teaching methodology. The teachers can also learn to chant the
Vedic mantras and perform the puja.
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11.Should the Programme be Taught
Preferably by Parents?
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No.
The programme is designed to blend with the school curriculum over
a period of twelve years from standards one to plus two. Even individuals
interested in taking up such a cultural endeavour may organise
community classes at a place of worship or any other public place.
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12.Has this Programme been Used
Before in Schools?
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Over
a hundred schools in different parts of the country have made Vedic
Heritage as a part of their curriculum for the past decade and have
expressed immense satisfaction.
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13.Is Vedic Heritage Being Taught in
Communities?
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There
are hundreds of groups in India and abroad teaching
the programme successfully by gathering children living in their
vicinity.
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