TVS Academy; Hosur India

This morning began bright an early as we set off for the TVS Academy. Although it is Saturday, here in India classes are still in session and we were eager to meet the new group of students. I was overwhelmed at the beauty and design of the school, as well as their main objectives. The TVS school is the first school in India that we have come across that integrates both Art and Music into their curriculum. For the first time, students were expressing interests and future goals in more than just the standard professions of Doctors, Engineers, and Scientists. Today I encountered students who were passionate about their education- they wanted to become Artists, Poets, Historians, Anthropologists, Roboticist, and Astronauts.. these career goals are drastically different than the previous career mentalities of the previous schools. We arrived in time to listen to the 6th graders chant traditional Indian songs, and then we interacted with students in Art, Science, and radio classes.

We were then lead to the TVS farm- a 9 acre lot where they are working on planting trees as a restoration project, over 100,000 trees to be exact. Not only were they planting trees, but they were growing food as well. We observed green houses that held cabbage, lettuce, broccoli and other vegetables. The school today  had a wonderfully green campus with flowers, trees, and herbs planted along the walkways. The principal of the school was a dedicated woman who was absolutely passionate about her school, her teachers, and her students. The students enter TVS at age 3 and stay at the academy through age 17... then %100 of graduates attend a University.


A typical day at TVS begins with 20 minutes of yoga and meditation to center the children and prepare them mentally for the day. Each class holds 40 students and has 2 teachers, keeping the student to teacher ratio small and personal. We learned that not only was the female infanticide the highest in Hosur, but the HIV rates are the highest here as well due to the truck route that goes directly through town. These issues are just a few of the many issues the children of Hosur face, and TVS academy is actively trying to educate the students to be able to put an end to these issues and others. This children are India's generation of change.

In talking with some of the students they were very interested about America. They wanted to know what the biggest differences were between the US and India. They asked about my family, our transportation, our economy and all of them wanted to know what I thought of India.