In Purulia District most students drop out of high school due to economic hardship and the literacy rate is extremely low. Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, the founder of Ananda Marga, had a vision to elevate the educational status and improve the standard of living in the most rural areas of India through a comprehensive system of education. Initially, there was no higher educational institution in and around Ananda Nagar. He founded the Degree College at Ananda Nagar in the year 1966, providing higher education and a path out of extreme poverty to members of the poorest communities.
The college is the top level of the local educational system and has been an undeniable success, serving more than 60 villages around Ananda Nagar over the years. In addition, the college promotes and imparts moral and spiritual values as the basis of a successful personal and social life.
http://www.anandanagar.org/education/ananda-marga-college/
More on Ananda Marga College:
https://gurukul.edu/newsletter/issue29/ananda-marga-college-anandanagar-india/
A note from Dada Yatiishvarananda
Namaskar to you from Ananda Nagar, and may all be well by Baba’s grace.
Here it is the middle of summer, with daily temperatures rising to 106F. The childrens’ school schedules have been moved to 7 am to finish before the blanket of afternoon heat sets in.
Gardens are abundant with lao- long, light green squash the length of the forearm, bitter gourd, and pumpkin, and several wells have dried up due to drought. In spite of it activities go on, and Yatiishvarananda Dada thought you would like an update of developments.
Ananda Marga College
Ananda Marga College is going on well, with about 550 boys attending, 200 from upper high school, classes 11-12, and 300 at the college. The college works in conjunction with Sidho Kanho Bhirsa University in Purulia, and is now offering 4 honors courses, Bengali, English, history, and geography. Teachers and office staff total 24. Class time is 10:30 am- 3:30 pm. The school sessions are 1 year long and last for 3 years.
The college is truly a beacon of hope for opportunities for the future. Located in Purulia District, one of the most impoverished areas of India, it gives a chance to its students to rise out of poverty and alleviate the hardship of their families. Job opportunities in these parts for uneducated youth are few. 30% of the students are tribals, original ancient peoples, often with their own languages, and one of the lowest rungs in India’s caste system. Although poor physically, 3 or 4 of India’s tribes have been entered in the ‘Encyclopedia of Peaceful Societies’, an international gathering of 25 of the planet’s most peace loving and harmonious groups.
D Ed College is a new college added, through your generous contributions. This addition is helping the college move forward. D Ed means Diploma Education program, is a 2 year program equivalent to a masters, and created to teach teachers how to teach at the elementary level. It is now mandatory in India in order to teach elementary school. This new subject will help boys in college get a good paying job at the government schools. It passed second phase inspection by government education board in March, and should be functioning.
