Promoted by the well-known spiritual leader and guru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (aka ‘hugging mother’), AV has swiftly established an excellent reputation for delivering values-based holistic education in a non-stressful environment – Hemalatha Raghupathi Sited on a verdant 5.5-acre campus in Nallampalayam suburb of the textiles city of Coimbatore, Amrita Vidyalayam school (AV, estb.2010) has swiftly established an excellent reputation for delivering values-based, holistic education in a non-stressful learning environment. In the EducationWorld India School Rankings 2017-18, AV is ranked #2 in Coimbatore (pop. 1.9 million) and #12 in Tamil Nadu in the co-ed day schools category. Promoted under the aegis of the Mata Amritanandamayi Mutt (MAM), a trust registered in 1981 by spiritual leader and guru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (aka Amma, ‘hugging mother’), AV began its innings in 2000 as a matriculation school affiliated with the Tamil Nadu State Board of School Education. However, in 2010 when the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) curriculum was introduced, most students chose to shift to CBSE and the matriculation section was gradually discontinued in 2015. Currently, the K-XII Amrita Vidyalayam has an enrolment of 3,371 students mentored by 125 teachers. The globe-girdling MAM trust with its head office in the mega ashram complex of Amritapuri in Kerala’s Kollam district, runs charitable institutions and programmes in 40 countries worldwide. In India, the trust has promoted and manages 55 Amrita Vidyalayam English-medium schools, and six government-aided Malayalam-medium schools in Kerala, India’s most literate (99 percent) state (pop. 34 million). It also administers the highly reputed multi-disciplinary teaching and research deemed-to-be (private) Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University in Coimbatore (with campuses in Kollam and Kochi in Kerala, Bangalore and Mysore in Karnataka) which offers study programmes in 19 academic disciplines including engineering, medicine, business and nano sciences. “The distinguishing feature of Amrita Vidyalayam is that we believe in providing education that prepares students for life, and not merely for professions and vocations. Therefore, our aim is to strengthen the intellectual, physical and spiritual development of our students in a happy, stress-free environment. The emphasis is not merely on academic achievement but also on integrating cultural and spiritual values, respect and compassion into the curriculum. Our teachers and students share a close bond with teachers mentoring children academically and spiritually,” says Mataji Nirupama Amrita Chaitanya, principal of AV, who signed up with the Amritapuri ashram in 1990. An alumna of Kerala and Annamalai universities, Mataji Nirupama began her professional career in 1995 as a maths and English teacher in AV, Kodungallur (Trichur district) followed by a stint as principal of AV, Chennai. In 2017, she was appointed principal of AV, Nallampalayam. To attain its institutional objective of providing well-rounded education to all students, the AV management has designed spiritual and emotional development programmes with yoga and meditation an integral part of the school curriculum. The emphasis on spiritual and emotional development has had a positive impact on students’ learning outcomes. Of the 187 AV students who wrote the class X CBSE exam in March-April 2017, 66 averaged…
