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Published on 08/14/1995 All articles from this issue

Los Altos resident sets up school an India

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Los Altos resident Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who recently retired as deputy superintendent of schools in the San Mateo School District, has set up the Chinmaya International Residential School in Coimbatore, India. The school is slated to open in June 1996.

Prasad, who holds a doctoral degree from Stanford University, is one of the founding directors of Chinmaya Mission West in California. He has 25 years of experience as an educator in the California school systems.

Over the years, he had extensive discussions with the mission's founder, Swami Chinmayananda, on what the focus of the international school should be. It was decided that the school's curriculum would be a blend of the educational programs of schools in the United States and the best of Indian culture.

Swami Chinmayananda noticed during his many trips overseas that the children of non-resident Indians often faced pressures and conflicts in trying to assimilate the culture of their peers in school while at the same time trying to respect the traditional values of their parents. Such a conflict often led to an identity crisis.

Students at the international school will have the opportunity to imbibe the cultural values of India and develop pride in their Indian heritage. At the same time, the school, with the aid of state-of-the-art equipment, will encourage the integration of creative and independent thinking common in western educational institutions. Teachers will be recruited both from India and the United States.

Upon graduation, the students will be able to continue their higher education at any American or European university.

Dr. Prasad's wife, Malti, will be accompanying her husband to set up the school, Malti has a master's degre in education from Stanford University and she taught mathematics at Graham Middle School in Mountain View from 1967 to 1991. She was a member of the California Teachers Association State Council for three years, and also served as president of the Mountain View Teachers Association.

For more information about the school, call S. Sukumar of Chinmaya Mission San Jose at (408) 867-3193, or e-mail info@cirs. chinmaya.org.