Our vision is to enable the development of Awakened future citizens by allowing them to discover a Value System for themselves.
Swami Vivekananda undertook a Bharat Parikrama as a wandering monk from 1887 to 1893. He was appalled by the poverty and illiteracy of the masses. He was deeply saddened that this once glorious country had sunk to such abysmal depths. He came to the conclusion that the neglect of the masses was the main reason for this downfall and that education was the panacea for all the evils of our country. His vision of education was unique. He said that education should instill a deep sense of Atmashraddha or self-belief in the students, which should help them stand on their own feet and enable them to face the challenges of life. He wanted man-making and character-building education. He defined education as the manifestation of perfection already in man. The followers of Swami Vivekananda, particularly those belonging to the Ramakrishna Mission, have been quoting Swami Vivekananda’s messages on education from various platforms for more than 100 years. Though many have been inspired, not enough young people have actually been able to experience the depth of his ideas in their daily lives.
The feeling that we have not done enough to take the message of Swamiji to school children gave rise to the first program titled “Success Formula”, which was developed by M/s Illumine Knowledge Resources Pvt. Ltd., our knowledge partner, and launched in the schools of Delhi in 2009. The program was of one hour duration and was based on Swami Vivekananda’s teachings. The program was a huge success and that helped us to think about a longer version. In the meanwhile, the 150th Birth Anniversary Celebrations of Swami Vivekananda were initiated in the year 2011. As part of the celebrations our knowledge partner developed a five-module multimedia based program titled “The Awakening” once again based on Swami Vivekananda’s educational philosophy. Our own resource persons conducted this pilot program in 50 schools, which was once again a remarkable success. This program was sponsored by the ONGC Ltd. Based on our inputs from this pilot program, our knowledge partner developed a three year graded value education program called “The Awakened Citizen Program” which was launched in September 2014. For the first three years, the program was supported by M/s BHEL Ltd. Today the program is running in around 4,800 schools all over the country. It is supported through Corporate Social Responsibility funding of a leading corporate organization.
The Awakened Citizen Program is a national movement. One of the teachers who spoke at the end of a training program in Chennai compared it to a movement like the freedom struggle. This sentiment has been expressed by many all over the country, after being part of the program.
The vision of this program is to truly empower the students and give them a new identity. Every student participating in the program should feel, at least in a small way, the extraordinary power and strength which Swami Vivekananda talks about as inherent in every human being. This would enable them to stand on their own feet, face challenges of life and become truly enlightened citizens, irrespective of their academic achievements. The program is meant to enable the students to discover a tremendous sense of self-confidence and courage to face life squarely. Not only the students, the teachers and other stakeholders like educational administrators and parents are also bound to be impacted by the powerful message of strength of Swami Vivekananda, revealed through this program. It is a small and humble beginning, but an enormous initiative in the right direction in restoring India’s glory and in establishing the India of Swami Vivekananda’s dream, which will be full of awakened citizens who would not only do well for themselves, but would also think of the welfare of others.