SAIIER 2020:Report from the SAIIER office
Report from the Entity::SAIIER office
The Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research (SAIIER) is the umbrella organization for education in Auroville. SAIIER has 41 sub-units, including schools for children of Aurovilians, schools for children from Auroville's surrounding villages, centres for physical education and for the arts, libraries and a Teachers' Center. SAIIER supports these units and their activities through a central administration, coordinating between them, responding to the needs of the community and carrying forward new initiatives in the field of education.
Activities of the year:
SAIIER is now in its 36th year. Over the year we continued our work of managing grants and donations, coordinating construction projects, supporting the schools, managing assets, participating in organisation, and exchanging and collaborating with others toward development of education in Auroville.
SAIIER supported 61 projects proposed and held by members of the community, as detailed in this report.
The team at SAIIER includes a Board which takes major decisions (Ashoke, Chali, Divya, Jean-Yves, Jyoti K., Lucas, Manas, Sanjeev A., Sanjeev R., Sauro). Four executives manage SAIIER's operations (Ashoke, Chali, Divya, Sanjeev A.), supported by an office staff (Arun, Divij, Iyyannar, Lijun, Kristen, Ramu). Our office building in the central Administrative Area of Auroville offers a conference hall, two small meeting rooms, and desks which are utilized by education-related groups.
Construction projects:
SAIIER oversaw the completion of the following projects in 2019-20 supported by the Government of India grant:
- SAIIER Staff Quarters – Prosperity Phase 1 (0.08 lakhs this year, 115.8 lakhs total)
- Unity Pavilion – Toilet block (0.4 lakhs this year, 29.0 lakhs total)
- Dehashakti School of Physical Education – Climbing wall (11.2 lakhs this year, 15.4 lakhs total)
- Aranya Forest – Classroom and kitchen, toilet (0.05 lakhs this year, 134.7 lakhs total)
- Auroville Sports Resource Centre – Toilet block (0.03 lakhs this year, 14.8 lakhs total)
- Kalabhumi Art Studio – Store room (0.37 lakhs returned this year, 5.8 lakhs total)
Several construction projects are still ongoing, including SAIIER Staff Quarters “Prosperity” Phase 2 and “Harmony” phases 3 & 4, and a herbarium at Auroville Botanical Gardens.
Reflections:
The Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020 caused the schools to close abruptly and most activities to stop. This unprecedented situation was an opportunity to introspect and to reflect on Auroville's daily life, systems and purpose. It pushed several schools to start using online educational tools, and brought a new reality where resilience and adaptability are needed both individually and collectively.
SAIIER has been reflecting on how to offer higher education to Auroville youth. Auroville youth go out in India and abroad for their studies after high school. A gap year programme organized by Auroville Campus Initiative this year did not take off, as it did not fill a need in the right way. On the other hand Auroville has a lot of paid programs relating to lifelong learning, where Aurovilians share their experience through short-term programs. The idea of a connected higher learning in a new model is being talked about.