WHERE STUDENTS SET HE SYLLABUS
MIRAMBIKA, NEW DELHI
Annual fee: Rs 21,000

Preeti jha
Imagine a school where students decide what they will learn and teachers say they do not teach, but help children unearth what they already know. Add to this roaming rabbits and geese, and a slide that children whiz down to reach the dining hall. No this is not a school conjured up by Enid Blyton, floating on top of the magic faraway tree. But 13-year old Avantika Viswanathan will tell you that her school Mirambika is not far from every child’s fantasy.
Founded in 1980 by Neeltje Huppes, a Dutch woman, Mirambika began with students learning under seven trees at the Aurobindo Ashram in Delhi. Buildings later evolved, but even today very few classrooms have four walls. ‘‘This really helps,’’ says Viswanathan, ‘‘seeing birds, trees, sunlight—it makes you a happy learner.’’
Even more striking than Mirambika’s architecture is its approach to education. ‘‘There’s no ABCD, or counting one to 10,’’ explains volunteer-teacher, Shaifali Chickermane. Abandoning formal drills, at Mirambika, children learn how to read and write themselves.
The unstructured approach works by encouraging and building on a child’s natural curiosity. By looking at pictures in books, children begin to ask questions.
A child-centric system of education is key to the school’s philosophy, which is inspired by the work of Shri Aurobindo and Mirra Alfassa, also know as the Mother, on education. ‘‘The philosophy of integral education required setting up an entirely new environment,’’ says Huppes.
Take the way in which students form classes. Open to children aged three to 14, the school is grouped by age, but not divided from nursery through to class VIII. Classes are named after colours or qualities —decided upon by students.This year’s classes include aspiration, humility, and perseverance.
Student autonomy extends to what is learned in class. There are do no timetables or study sharply demarcated subjects, instead Mirambika has an innovative class called project. During a project on panchayats (village councils), the school set up their own elections. ‘‘One year there was even a project on pirates,’’ says Avantika, ‘‘it might seem unimportant, but through it we learned about history and folk tales.’’
Now in her final year at Mirambika, Viswanathan wonders if she will enjoy formal education. Vikrant Abrol—the first student on Mirambika’s rolls— says even after 18 years, adjusting to the wider world ‘‘is still difficult at times’’. Suddenly faced with a system bent on evaluation was tough, he says.
But the Mirambika experience was worth it, and now working as a social entrepreneur, Abrol is keen for his son to study at the school. Ratna Viswanathan, Avantika’s mother, thinks it is a common misperception that the school leaves students unable to contend with the wider world. ‘‘Instead it develops critical thinking at an early age. At Mirambika there is competition, but with oneself rather than against others.’’
Avantika is considering going to Mother’s International or Sardar Patel in April. ‘‘From Mirambika, I know textbooks aren’t the only way to learn. This will stay with me wherever I go,’’ she says.

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