VILLUPURAM: Officials of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and representatives of Auroville have initiated discussions on collaborating to integrate Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy of Integral Education into the national education framework.
The meeting was led by Sushil Kumar Tiwari of NCERT’s Department of Teacher Education and SAIIER Executive Auraven.
According to a statement from the Auroville Foundation, Auraven outlined the educational framework of the Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research (SAIIER), which oversees Auroville’s schools and has implemented the ‘Free Progress’ system for nearly five decades.
The SAIIER team said Integral Education addresses five aspects of human development — physical, vital, mental, psychic and spiritual — and added that the model aligns with the objectives of the National Education Policy 2020.
A key focus of the discussion was the ‘Triple Challenge’ framework for students in Classes 9 to 12. The programme proposes replacing board examinations with personal challenges in physical fitness, socio-emotional learning and mental research.
Tiwari said NCERT had promoted innovative practices through various projects since the 1960s, including the Holistic Progress Card initiative. “The culture of innovation remains a hurdle in many States,” he said. Both sides agreed that board examination pressure continues to be a constraint.
The Auroville Foundation has decided to engage with the University Grants Commission to explore alternative pathways for university admissions.
The discussions concluded with a meeting attended by Jayanti S Ravi, Secretary of the Auroville Foundation and Additional Chief Secretary of Gujarat, along with Puducherry government school teachers selected for an NCERT programme.
Jayanti said there was an opportunity to synchronise the efforts of SAIIER and NCERT. She added that the proposed partnership would utilise NCERT’s national reach to document Auroville’s educational experiments and extend these practices to surrounding villages to create a model zone.