Accreditation

As the Sri Sathya Sai Schools integrate the transformative and holistic curriculum, a natural inquiry arises: what progress has been made in cultivating human values and to what extent have the objectives been achieved. When a school adopts a new input in the curriculum, it is natural to be anxious to know what areas and to what extent has the curriculum achieved its objectives.

The underlying conviction of the Sri Sathya Sai Educare Curriculum is that good behavior in life is an Evidence of blossoming of human values within. The objective of Accreditation is to motivate all Sathya Sai Schools in India, to ensure that they promote a healthy and sacred environment which reflects the schools’ mission and develops leadership skills, knowledge, insight and attitude, to provide clear educational direction in order to promote value-based curriculum.

It is to be ensured that all those associated with the Sathya Sai schools – students, teachers, parents and the management, are attuned to the philosophy and practice of Sathya Sai Educare curriculum. Accreditation provides direction for the future, so that the schools satisfy the minimum requirements of standards through a normalized procedure of training, implementation and assessment. It formulates a Quality Assurance Benchmark.

The outcome of this Standardization, Assessment and Accreditation would provide enrichment inputs and guidelines for creative, intuitive and innovative practices in schools so that they become and remain models of excellence in India.

Accreditation is a process to strengthen, sustain and ensure quality enhancement at all levels of the school education by the combination of in-house and external assessment. It aims at evolving initiatives for continuous improvement and implementation of the goals and objectives of the school to its very best.

Accreditation of Schools Registered with SSSNCS

In the 6 th National Convention held in 2022, a decision was taken to form a structured process whereby Accreditation 2.0 schedule of the schools under Sri Sathya Sai National Council for Schools, would be implemented smoothly.

A revised document titled as Accreditation 2.0, after exhaustive review of the scheme, criteria, questionnaire and adding more content, was prepared and placed at the Lotus Feet of Bhagawan Baba. In pursuance thereof, accreditation is proposed to be carried out in all Sathya Sai Schools registered under Sri Sathya Sai National Council for Schools in a phased manner.

If any school shows interest in the Sathya Sai Schools system and in adopting the Sri Sathya Sai EHV curriculum, following procedure must be adopted:


  1. These schools should write a formal letter expressing their interest and seeking Affiliation to the National Council, with a commitment to continue the programme for at least five years.
  2. All teachers of the school will have to undertake an Orientation Course conducted by the SSSNCS.
  3. An accreditation 2.0 team, constituted by the National Council will visit the school and, if found suitable, will recommend the same to the National Council, following which the school will be accredited as per the norms of the Council.
  4. After affiliation to SSSNCS and accreditation 2.0, the school would ensure to mention the same in their prospectus and also display the Certificate at a prominent place in the school.
  5. It would be essential for such schools to participate in all programmes and courses conducted by the SSSNCS.

Why Accreditation?

Accreditation 2.0 will help Schools to promote in letter and spirit:
  • An environment, culture and ethos in which the five human values are actively practiced by the students;
  • The realization among students of their full potential of human excellence;
  • Self-confidence, fundamental discrimination and experiential insight into spiritual awareness;
  • Personal commitment and practice of values by the teachers and other staff;
  • A model of educational excellence. Never has such a large-scale exercise been undertaken in India. Its implications have global dimensions.

Accreditation 2.0 - Procedure

All Sathya Sai Schools in India must mandatorily be affiliated to the Sri Sathya Sai National Council for Schools to undertake the Accreditation process. Till September 2024, accreditation for 18 schools have been completed. It is expected to speed up the process in near future and complete the accreditation for remaining schools in the next few years. The Accreditation procedure consists of five sequential steps as outlined below:
  1. A Sathya Sai school in India will write to the SSSNCS seeking assessment and accreditation through a LETTER of INTENT, and the Council will respond to it immediately.
  2. On confirmation by the SSSNCS, the school will prepare and submit a SELF STUDY REPORT (SSR). Four copies of the SSR will be required to be sent to the evaluators in the accreditation team. The SSR should be duly signed by the Principal, and endorsed by the Authorized Signatory of the Management Committee of the school. Any additional information, such as school Prospectus, Photographs / videos of festivals or functions, may also be sent.
  3. On receipt of the proposal, the SSSNCS will constitute a 3-member Visiting Team for the school, with one of the members as the Team leader. Members of the Visiting Team will be selected from an All-India pool of educationists, who are Sai devotees with knowledge and experience of the Sathya Sai Educare programme. A copy of the SSR will be received by each Team member so that they are aware of the background of the school before the visit.
  4. When the dates are finalized in consultation with the Team members and the school, the Team will visit the school for a minimum duration of 3 days. Where schools have residential / boarding houses, the number of days of visit can be decided accordingly. The visiting team will carry clear guidelines for an objective, reliable and valid assessment of the school’s Value Education curriculum. The Team will not get involved in addressing the students, teachers or local devotees except in a formal / protocol situation. They are expected to observe, enquire and seek information.
  5. When an overall assessment of the school’s programme is arrived at by consensus among the members, the Team leader will forward all the documents generated by the Team to the SSSNCS as a confidential Report. The Accreditation Committee consisting of distinguished educationists will review the report and award Accreditation status to the school, along with any recommendations for further action and follow-up.

Criteria For Accreditation 2.0

Assessment of the school is directly dependent upon conviction of the Visiting Team that the Sathya Sai Education curriculum is leading to blossoming of excellence among the students of the school. This can be best achieved by integrating values in all dimensions of the school activities – scholastic, co-curricular and administrative.

The criteria selected for this purpose have been communicated to all the Sathya Sai Schools during the teacher training courses. They are reiterated below:


COMMON MINIMUM PROGRAMME
  1. The School Assembly
  2. Divine Silence – Meditation
  3. Cleanliness and Community Services
  4. Parenting Programme
  5. Festivals and Functions
  6. Experiential Learning

As a matter of course, the visiting team will also assess the following additional criteria:
  1. School Ambience
  2. Value fostering practices & co-curricular activities
  3. Role of Teacher
  4. Life & Teachings of Bhagawan Baba