Where I went to school...
This is a relatively fair (and therefore rare) news article concerning Khalsa School when it first opened in the 1986/1987 school year. I was born in December of 1986 and unfortunately, I've never seen anything but negative coverage of Khalsa School for my entire life (due to the subtle racism of certain reporters and the willingness of many others to be manipulated in order to create the most extreme impression of division and turmoil within the BC Sikh community), and yet, it continues to grow rapidly and will eventually become the largest private school in British Columbia:
Sikh School Cherishes Honor and Good Things From Society
By Daphne Bramham of the Canadian Press
This article features an in-depth look at the Khalsa School, Vancouver.
VANCOUVER – Along a busy street, tucked behind a row of trees and a standard metal school fence, a unique experiment in Sikh education is taking place.
Children’s artwork brightens the dark hallways. A small boy wearing the school’s uniform of gray pants and navy sweater, his head covered with a navy kerchief, strains on tiptoe to reach the drinking fountain.
In a relaxed atmosphere, 106 children from kindergarten to Grade 6 are taught British Columbia’s standard curriculum. But the Khalsa School, which organizers say is the only Sikh-run school in North America, also instructs students in the principles of Sikh religion and culture.
They are taught Punjabi, but all other classes are in English. Daily readings from the Sikh holy book, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, are read in the language they were written in, then translated and explained.
The only thing not discussed at the school is politics, said acting principal Gurbakhsh Singh Gill.
The Canadian Sikh community (estimated at 200,000 with nearly half in British Columbia) has been splintered by violence over the last three years since then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi sent troops storming into the Sikhs’ Golden Temple at Amritsar in Punjab state.
“We teach basic religious principles,” said Gill, stroking his long white beard. Matters like establishing a separate Sikh state are “political decisions not related to what we teach.”
Nine-year-old Amarjit Kaur Parhar said she asked her parents to send her to the Khalsa School when it opened in September.
“People at the other school used to bother me because I had a turban,” she said. “Children bothered me because I am Punjabi and because I am Sikh. They bothered me because I wore a (ceremonial) knife and they called me names.”
Gill said: “If you want to retain your culture, the first thing you must have is your own school. It is for the honor of the community.”
R.S. Malik, a local Sikh businessman, is the president of the Satnam Educational Society and is credited with turning nine years of hoping into reality.
Malik said setting up a separate school is important for the community’s pride and also to keep the children from what it sees as the corrupt Canadian society.
“We are isolating them from sex at 10, from smoking and from drugs,” he said. “In this society, the family structure is pretty weird. I want to separate my children from that and teach them to respect themselves and their own parents.
“We can be successful and be isolated,” he said. “We don’t need to learn the bad things from your society. We can mix sometimes, though, and learn the good things.”
The Satnam Trust was established to raise money for the school that may some day be expanded to include a residence for students from kindergarten through university.
The trust purchased about five hectares of land for $200,000 in suburban Richmond five years ago, which could be used for expansion.
Students pay $40 a month to attend, which accounts for 18 percent of the operating budget. The rest comes from donations. Books are provided by the provincial Education Ministry and the school will be eligible for grants after three successful years of operation.
“Our teaching is to make people better human beings,” said Gill. “We don’t proselytize. If you are a Jew, all that we ask is that you become a good Jew. We say there is a God. We say love Him and love by any name you want to call Him.”
Two women among the five teachers are not Sikhs. Gill said they are not required to learn anything of Sikh religion or culture, but they may not smoke at school and they must cover their heads.
“How else can you prove that you love others if you don’t allow them in your school?” Gill asked. “I believe that if the kids are not exposed to other religions, they can’t be good Sikhs.”
Sikh School Cherishes Honor and Good Things From Society
By Daphne Bramham of the Canadian Press
This article features an in-depth look at the Khalsa School, Vancouver.
VANCOUVER – Along a busy street, tucked behind a row of trees and a standard metal school fence, a unique experiment in Sikh education is taking place.
Children’s artwork brightens the dark hallways. A small boy wearing the school’s uniform of gray pants and navy sweater, his head covered with a navy kerchief, strains on tiptoe to reach the drinking fountain.
In a relaxed atmosphere, 106 children from kindergarten to Grade 6 are taught British Columbia’s standard curriculum. But the Khalsa School, which organizers say is the only Sikh-run school in North America, also instructs students in the principles of Sikh religion and culture.
They are taught Punjabi, but all other classes are in English. Daily readings from the Sikh holy book, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, are read in the language they were written in, then translated and explained.
The only thing not discussed at the school is politics, said acting principal Gurbakhsh Singh Gill.
The Canadian Sikh community (estimated at 200,000 with nearly half in British Columbia) has been splintered by violence over the last three years since then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi sent troops storming into the Sikhs’ Golden Temple at Amritsar in Punjab state.
“We teach basic religious principles,” said Gill, stroking his long white beard. Matters like establishing a separate Sikh state are “political decisions not related to what we teach.”
Nine-year-old Amarjit Kaur Parhar said she asked her parents to send her to the Khalsa School when it opened in September.
“People at the other school used to bother me because I had a turban,” she said. “Children bothered me because I am Punjabi and because I am Sikh. They bothered me because I wore a (ceremonial) knife and they called me names.”
Gill said: “If you want to retain your culture, the first thing you must have is your own school. It is for the honor of the community.”
R.S. Malik, a local Sikh businessman, is the president of the Satnam Educational Society and is credited with turning nine years of hoping into reality.
Malik said setting up a separate school is important for the community’s pride and also to keep the children from what it sees as the corrupt Canadian society.
“We are isolating them from sex at 10, from smoking and from drugs,” he said. “In this society, the family structure is pretty weird. I want to separate my children from that and teach them to respect themselves and their own parents.
“We can be successful and be isolated,” he said. “We don’t need to learn the bad things from your society. We can mix sometimes, though, and learn the good things.”
The Satnam Trust was established to raise money for the school that may some day be expanded to include a residence for students from kindergarten through university.
The trust purchased about five hectares of land for $200,000 in suburban Richmond five years ago, which could be used for expansion.
Students pay $40 a month to attend, which accounts for 18 percent of the operating budget. The rest comes from donations. Books are provided by the provincial Education Ministry and the school will be eligible for grants after three successful years of operation.
“Our teaching is to make people better human beings,” said Gill. “We don’t proselytize. If you are a Jew, all that we ask is that you become a good Jew. We say there is a God. We say love Him and love by any name you want to call Him.”
Two women among the five teachers are not Sikhs. Gill said they are not required to learn anything of Sikh religion or culture, but they may not smoke at school and they must cover their heads.
“How else can you prove that you love others if you don’t allow them in your school?” Gill asked. “I believe that if the kids are not exposed to other religions, they can’t be good Sikhs.”
posted by Japnaam Singh at
9:46 PM
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