Sankardev Shishu/Vidya Niketan
Sankardev Sishu Niketan and Sankardev Vidya Niketan are a group of schools run by the Shishu Shiksha Samiti, Assam, a state-level affiliate committee of Vidya Bharati in the state of Assam.[1] The Shankardev Shishu Niketan, Ambikagiri Nagar was the first school established by the Shishu Shiksha Samiti, Assam at Ambikagiri Nagar, Guwahati.[1]
In 1952, late Nanaji Deshmukh and a group of RSS activists planned to educate children about Hindutva (the nationalistic Hindu way of life) and Krishna Chandra Gandhi opened the a school in Gorakhpur named Saraswati Shishu Mandir.[2] Prior to this, Gita school was established at Kurukshetra in the year 1946 by M. S. Golwalkar. In 1977 Vidya Bharati, Akhil Bharatia Shiksha Sansthan was formed with a registered office at Swaraswati Kunj, Nirala Nagar at Lucknow and functional head quarter in Delhi.[1] The promoters of Shishu Shiksha Samiti, Assam decided that Vidya Bharati School in Assam will be named after Mahapurush Sankardev, a tribute to his enormous contribution.[1] Srimanta Sankardev was a (1449-1568) saint scholar, playwright, social religious reformer and who created a new religious inclination that shade light upon values and social synthesis.[1]
The education style in these schools is a blend of ancient Indian education style as prescribed in the Vedas, nationalistic Hindu pride, and contemporary subjects taught in the local language. They address the male teacher as aacharya (আচাৰ্য) and female teacher as aacharyaa (আচাৰ্য্যা). The day starts with plenty of prayers to goddess Saraswati in Sanskrit and Hindi, omkar, Gayatri Mantra. Other patriotic songs and didactic motivational stories are also recited. They sing Shanti Path by which they pray for Peace and prosperity of every human being. They also worship Bharat Mata.
There are 470 schools have been instituted across Assam.[1] The state-level committee affiliated to the Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan[3] educational system, headquartered in Delhi. The schools follows NCERT books and SEBA syllabus in secondary level and AHSEC syllabus in higher secondary level.
Across all grades, the school starts with a "zero period" (sunya kalamsh). In this class, the teacher tells students about historical stories and legends of freedom fighters and religions of India. The morning prayer starts with the "morning prayer mantra" and ends with the "peace prayer" (shanti path).
At the end of school time, students sing Vande Mataram. In many schools, students of north east states are getting education free of cost. In this school all the students are taking lunch together with Teachers (Acharya) after a Bhojan Mantra.
Many schools are currently running in rural areas for the betterment of Rural India. All those schools are funded by other schools. Vidya Bharati is working with an aim of providing quality education and creation of patriotic student in society.[1] Class rooms are in the name of various historic person such as Lachit, Kanaklata, Rupkonwar, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Bhagat Singh.