Saraswati Vidya Niketan opened at Cornelia Ida A new Hindu secondary school

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Saraswati Vidya Niketan Complex

Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) Secondary School, WCD, Guyana

History

● Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) secondary school, a visionary state of the art educational institution was founded by Pujya Swami Aksharananda in his native village of Cornelia Ida, a former British sugar plantation on the West Coast of the Demerara River in Guyana. SVN is just about 45 minutes driving from the capital city of Georgetown.
● Principal: Pujya Swami Aksharananda, BA, MA, PhD
● Bhumi Puja or sod turning was performed on the auspicious day of Krishna Janamasthmi 1998 by Mananiya Akshok Singhal, world-wide President of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and Dr. Prakash V. Joshi, India's High Commissioner to Guyana
● Opening ceremony for Saraswati Vidya Niketan was conducted by Pujya Swami Aksharanandaji on May 11, 2003. In attendance was Guyana's Minister of Home Affairs Mr. Ronald Gajraj, Chief Justices Mr. Nandaram Kissoon, Member of Praliament Mr. Ravi Dev, representatives from the Ministry of Education and other organizations in Guyana. A number of overseas guests were also in attendance including Attorney at Law Mr. Ramnarine Sahadeo and noted Economist Dr. Ramesh Gampat.
● Date classes began: September 2000
● Academic rank: Since its first batch of graduating students in 2005, SVN has consistently been ranked (on the basis of pass rate at the regional Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examinations) as one of the top five secondary schools in Guyana

School Address

Saraswati Vidya Niketan Secondary School
Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara, Guyana, South America

Principal's E-mail: swami_aksharananda@hotmail.com

Page Contents
Please scroll down:
(1) Saraswati Vidya Niketan School opened at Cornelia Ida
(2) Private Hindu Secondary School is most welcome - Omesh Sharma
(3) President Bharat Jagdeo address SVN's first graduating class (2005)

Pujya Swami Aksharananda (Principal) and students in the Temple..

Saraswati Vidya Niketan opened at Cornelia Ida

A new Hindu secondary school, known as Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN), founded by Pujya Swami Aksharanandaji and costing some $15.9 million dollars, was officially declared opened on May 11, 2003 in the presence of Government officials, dignitaries, overseas guests, local people, teachers and students. According to sources within Guyana’s Ministry of Education, a school of the magnitude of SVN usually cost around $70 to $100 million.

SVN, a not-for-profit secondary school, is located in the secure and peaceful premises of the Cornelia Ida Temple complex, West Coast Demerara, Guyana. Funding for the school was obtained from donations both local and overseas.

The Bhumi Puja (sod-turning) for the construction of the school was jointly performed on the auspicious day of Krishna Janamashtami in 1998 by Mananiya Shri Ashok Singhalji, President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (the World Hindu Council), one of the most respected and powerful Hindu leaders in the world today, who was visiting at the time, and Dr. Prakash V. Joshi, the then Indian High Commissioner to Guyana. The sleek concrete building is approximately 7,200 square feet and can comfortably house up to 150 students.

The Saraswati Vidya Niketan has embarked on a philosophy of education that is aims at the overall development of the student. One immediate implication of this philosophy is that class size must be kept small. At the time of its formal opening, the Saraswati Vidya Niketan offers the best teacher-student ratio in Guyana. Even with the full complement of 150 students, the ratio will remain very high.

Classes began at the school last in September 2002 and currently the school has on roll 70 students in forms one to five (grades 7-11). There are ten teachers on staff, six of whom are university graduates or are about to complete university. Pujya Swami Aksharanandaji himself holds BA and MA degrees in Sanskrit from Banaras Hindu University, India, and a PhD from the University of Madison, Wisconsin, USA. A moderate fee is charged, which adequately provides for the needs of the teaching staff. Nevertheless, the Saraswati Vidya Niketan is committed to the maximum reward of teachers. Its non-profit status is sure to assist in the realization of this objective.

The SVN is the brainchild of Puja Swami Aksharanandaji, Principal-Designate, who is of the view that Guyana’s education system, a legacy of our colonial past is severely one-sided in that it emphasizes Western and Judeo-Christian values. The inevitable consequence is that the traditional Indian culture inherited by the Indian child is de-emphasized. The predominance of Christian values in Guyana’s post-colonial society damages the Indian psyche: their children grow up to be not only different; more importantly, they are ashamed of their cultural heritage.

Educational violence to the psyche puts Indian children at a disadvantage. It hampers their intellectual, emotional and spiritual development. On a larger scale, this imbalance in our educational system retards the task of nation building, so evident many areas of the society. The Saraswati Vidya Niketan remedies this imbalance with an appropriate cultural input and guidance in the school curriculum.

At present, the school offers 20 subjects that include the core subjects of English Language, Mathematics, Social Studies and Integrated Science. In addition, courses in Hindi, Hinduism, the Bhagavad Gita, Music, Art and Yoga are offered. To ensure the best teachers in music, dance, yoga, Hindi and Sanskrit, SVN has established a relationship with the Vidya Bharati in India, the largest conglomerate of educational institutions in India.

In terms of expansion, there are plans for state- of-the-art science
laboratories for Chemistry, Physics and Biology later this year. The
current state-of-the art computer lab at the Saraswati Vidya Niketan is one of the best in the country. There are also plans for an administrative office, a library, teacher’s rooms, a canteen and storerooms. The expansion program will cost around $40 million. Well-wishers who would like to contribute can contact the persons listed below.

Among those who attended the opening, were Minister of Home Affairs, Ronald Gajraj, ROAR leader, Ravi Dev, Justice Nandram Kissoon and representatives from the Ministry of Education and other organizations. Special oversees guests also attended, including Attorney Ramnarine Sahadeo from Canada and Mr. Teeka Singh and Dr. Ramesh Gampat from New York.

Left: SVN Expansion project

Private Hindu secondary school is most welcome

Source: Stabroek News, 6/19/2003 Author: Omesh Sharma
Dear Editor,
Your May 12, 2003 edition has been provided to us by Ram Sahadeo, Toronto lawyer, who recently reported to our Mandir about the May 11, official opening of the only secondary Hindu school in Guyana -Saraswati Vidya
Niketan-located at Cornelia Ida under the guidance of Swami Aksharananda. The colour picture on your front page showing the children on stage offering prayers at the opening ceremony should be preserved in your archives for
posterity since it is an event that will take on greater historical significance as youthful Guyana tries to find her true personality in the years ahead. Ken Moore should receive an award for capturing this masterpiece for many times the photographer is overlooked while writers take the spotlight and the accolades. We can only try to describe the pride and joy we experienced as Hindus when we read the deserved extensive coverage of this event and just wished we were all there.

However one of our own visionaries Ram Sahadeo, was there to represent us and brought back a beautiful plaque mounted on genuine Guyana purpleheart which now adorns the wall of our humble temple in Mississauga. Ram also took advantage of the moment and personally funded a scholarship in the name of the late Dr. Jung Bahadur Singh. This will not only assist needy students to benefit from a unique education but will also hopefully motivate others in the community to research the life of this great humanitarian and also sponsor similar scholarships so that the contributions of Hindu leaders to the nation’s history can be properly recorded. Most of us who feel that the educational system needs a serious dose of morality had formed a core group which assisted our former schools after the 1992 elections. Ram himself wrote booklets on “how to adopt your Guyana school” and his efforts were recorded in articles in the Mirror by the former Minister of Education, Dr. Dale Bisnauth who visited Toronto in 1993 and saw first hand the goodwill of many who owed their education to their homeland. Your own Miranda La Rose also followed the plan to assist the schools and wrote regular columns in Stabroek News on this subject.
Recently however there seemed to be more news about moral decay, death and destruction in the country and we all recognised that private religious schools with strict moral codes may be what the country needs as the public
schools come under greater criticism. Swami Aksharananda is paving the way for Hindus to learn about their religion and their history in the classroom since the home and the village are no longer the moral training grounds they
used to be. He has had strong support from Toronto, New York, Guyana and elsewhere but there is a long way to go because we have been going along the godless path for so long that few even have the perception to observe the
relationship between the present situation and the lack of religious leadership in the country.
We hope that Hindus in Guyana will continue to support this school by sending their children there to become future fearless leaders and assist in the construction and operation of other similar institutions in the near future. To the parents, teachers and students we say Jai Shree Ram. Yours faithfully,
Omesh Sharma
President, Hindu Seva Sangh Mississauga,
Ontario, Canada

President Bharat Jagdeo Address SVN's first graduating class

Source: Office of the President (website)
Georgetown , GINA, October 29, 2005

"You need to cultivate the right attitude in everything you do"
President Bharrat Jagdeo presents the President’s Award of Excellence to Nirmala Singh at the graduation ceremony (Office of the President photo by Sandra)

The nation has a great responsibility to its children and that is to inculcate in them, the correct attitude about life.

This message is pertinent to the development of every young person and should be conveyed by all elders, President Bharrat Jagdeo told the first-ever graduating class, who wrote the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination at the Saraswati Vidya Niketan Education Institute at Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara.

The President attended the graduation ceremony in Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) last evening. The school was formed in 2002 and offered the CSEC exams for the first time in 2005, scoring an overall pass rate of 85.9 per cent.

“Whatever you do in life, you have to cultivate the right attitude about yourselves, your family and your society. As the young people of our country, you bear our dreams; your parents’ dreams, grandparents’ dreams, the country’s dreams. You are our hope for a future that is better than the one we have today and if you are really going to make that future better, you have to prepare yourself,” he advised.

The President told the students that these years in their young lives are the formative ones and it offers opportunities that would probably never come around again.

“Whatever you do today; whatever your outlook of the world, is shaped by the institutions, discussions and views you subscribe to. These are things that will guide you throughout life. Therefore, it is important that you cultivate the right attitude about life. You need to do things with integrity,” he said to the graduating class.

Among the values worth emulating, the President said, are honesty, hard work, respect for elders, pride in one’s culture and physical self and charity at home. The President also highlighted the need for young people to become familiar with local, regional and global challenges, as this helps them to be well-rounded citizens.

He told them that even though they may not share values their parents instill from time to time, these are often done with good intentions.

Commenting on their judgment, President Jagdeo noted that good judgment can be exercised when making choices only when young people are prepared and one of the basic pillars of preparation is education.

The President commended the Saraswati Vidya Niketan Education Institute for the work the Principal, Pujya Swami Aksharanandaji and teachers have done. He recognised, particularly, the discipline instilled in the students. Although it is a Hindu school, it is open to persons of all religious background who are expected to confirm to the basic principle of discipline, the Principal said.

Before departing, President Jagdeo presented the President’s Award of Excellence to Nirmala Singh. She wrote seven subjects at CSEC and attained three distinctions, three grade ones and a grade two.

The Saraswati Vidya Niketan Education Institute is equipped with both Science and Information Technology laboratories and offers these subjects at CSEC. It is expanding its building at present.

Top CSEC achievers were also honoured, as well as those in lower forms. The school also offers scholarships through its donors. The graduation ceremony also featured the singing of bhajans, (Hindu religious songs).