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Education

"Education must aim at providing the child, not livelihood, but a life worth living. For this, the acquisition of skills in doing or reasoning is not enough. Faith in one's self and in the Divinity of one's self are absolutely essential. That is the precious treasure of wisdom, stored in our ancient scriptures and in the experience of the Saints and Sages of all countries and faiths."

Sathya Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 9, Chpt 1

Sathya Sai Baba emphasizes that Education should be for life, not just for a living. He says that, "Education should serve not only to develop one's intelligence and skills, but also help broaden one's outlook and make a person useful to society and the world at large. This is possible only when cultivation of the spirit is promoted along with education in the physical sciences. Moral and spiritual education will train a person to lead a disciplined life. Education without self-control is no education at all. True education should make a person compassionate and humane. It should not make him self-centered and narrow-minded." He points out that "Science without humanity and commerce without morality are both useless and dangerous."

Baba constantly reminds us that it is the children of today who will be the ones to shape tomorrow's world. If we want our world to be a better, safer and a more ecologically viable place in which to live, then we need to develop in our children a sense of social responsibility and a strong spiritual awareness.

As a means for bringing about this much needed change in outlook, Baba has instituted a system of Values Education called SATHYA SAI EDUCATION IN HUMAN VALUES (SSEHV) and SAI SPIRITUAL EDUCATION (SSE) which provides a much-need correction to the current educational trends. These programs are designed to assist parents and educators in developing young people into citizens of faith and high moral character. For, as He says, "Present day education develops intellect and skills but does little to develop good qualities", and asks, "of what avail is all the knowledge in the world if one has not got a good character?"

"The ideal of the Bal Vikas is to raise a generation of boys and girls who have a clean and clear conscience. The actual syllabus is not so important as the creation of an atmosphere where noble habits and ideas can grow and fructify"

Sathya Sai Baba, Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol 10, Chpt 33