WHEN higher education was limited merely to elitists and primary education could have been obtained by other than European races only if they had changed their names and religions; and when education for girls was an exception rather than a norm in society, the Guyana Sevashram Sangha opened its doors to all and sundry.
The sanyasis from the Ashram knocked on doors of the homes of even the poorest and most vulnerable in society — people of all creeds, religions, and races — and encouraged even the suspicious parents to send their children to the Swami Purnananda School to pursue an education.
Today, decades later, the Ashram has produced some of the brightest and the best spanning the globe, most of whom have never forgotten from whence they first received their education and moral values that took them places they would never have dreamt of going.
Principal Rajkumarie Singh says that, except in a few rare cases, the school receives students brought by despairing parents whose children were assigned to schools that are at the lowest spectrum of the secondary schools education system; and the school takes those children and begins afresh, tutoring them in the basics to bring them to a level where they can be on par with their peers, while simultaneously providing them with the secondary education that their progression in academia warrants and is a prerequisite of the educational system.
Singh cited an instance in which Cliffon Chichester, the daughter of a former principal of President’s College, had done well at the SSPE and had been assigned to President’s College; but her parent had the girl transferred to the Hindu College after she began failing all her classes at President’s College. That student eventually topped the school at the CXC Exams.
Prayers are mandatory, although students are encouraged to worship in the context and practices of their own religion, but many students became so enamoured of the spirituality of the extended but optional facilities of the Guru Mandir, that they themselves opt to follow the precepts of Hinduism, and religiously make pilgrimage, especially during Shivratri, to pay obeisance to their Supreme Acharya.

Wisdom encapsulates an entire spectrum of educational processes
Learned and holy monk of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Guruji Swami Vidyanandaji Maharaj, who originated from the Guyana Sevashram Sangha  (Cove and John Ashram) and is the first Swami in the West, had said that the attainment of education (in all its dimensions and ramifications) has its roots in absolute faith in the guru; because education is the manifestation of the entire gurukul system, which is grounded in subsuming the individual consciousness to better inculcate the values, mores and lessons being imparted by the guru (teacher).
This was reiterated by acclaimed and accomplished General-Secretary of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Pujya Shrimat Swami Vividishanandaji Maharaj, who elucidated to the effect that wisdom does not merely stem from academic knowledge, but encapsulates an entire spectrum of educational processes wherein the Vyas is the person who compiled the vedas and all the shastras, including the Mahabharatta.
In the passage of time, the divinely prescribed way of the spiritual path has been forgotten; but then, whenever such circumstances prevail, Lord Shiva manifests himself to restore the sublime glory of dharmic principles.
Thus was the Acharya incarnated as the embodiment of the Lord.

Acharya exhorts disciples to be educated children of humanity
As an example of such absolute self-sacrifice and self-immersion in service to God through serving mankind, which is in essence the work in progress of the Sangha, Swami Vividishanandaji spoke about the Founder of the Sangha, and his propagation of the philosophies, teachings and traditions of Hinduism, especially through education. He explained the Acharya’s vision, and the goals encapsulated in this vision as follows:
From his early childhood, Acharya Srimat Swami Pranavanandaji Maharaj, then Binode, had dedicated himself to meditation and service to the Lord; and he struggled to overcome hurdles and establish the Sangha — an organisation through which he hoped to serve humanity worldwide, primarily in the area of education and through inculcating spiritual and moral values in the young people of the world – because, as a young man of merely 20, the Acharya had already gained “everything”.
Guruji Vidyanandaji Maharaj described him thus:  “In some ways, he stands most authentically for ancient Hindu values, which can easily be overlooked by modern commentators, scholars, and interpreters of religion.

The Guyana Sevashram Sangha
Founded by Swami Purnanandaji Maharaji in obedience to the supreme Acharya, the Guyana Sevashram Sangha was established on 20 acres of formerly undeveloped land at Cove and John in the early 1950s, and was transformed into its current dynamic and dynamism by the “blood and sweat of the Swamis, Bramcharis, and selfless devotees” over the decades of its existence.
He adjured the devotees to follow ideal precepts which evolve in the perfection of life.  Elucidating on the precepts as expounded in the Gita, the Guru said that revering one’s parents and teachers and respecting one’s fellow man in general are in effect paying obeisance to God.
“Mother is the teacher of society,” expounded the learned guru. “Do not neglect mothers; and worship the goddesses. Sacrifice for the people who have been neglected in the society.”
Swami Purnandaji went door-to-door to preach Hinduism in particular, and the benefits of a holistic education in general, with both being conjunctive to the other. “Do not forget your forefathers, for we are the song of the rishis and the saints of yesteryears. Recite the mantras, and don’t forget you come from the Hindu community. You may be away from India, but don’t forget your traditions and culture, while still respecting the other cultures of your fellowman.”

Rites of passage and a new generation of educators
Over the decades of its existence, the Sangha has evolved to encapsulate the dimensions of teaching capacities that parallel the best in the world, even as global dynamics are transcending boundaries of research and discoveries in various disciplines. The Sangha keeps apace through its intermediaries, with special interventions of former students and ardent devotees scattered the length and breadth of the globe; and here special mention should be made of Jay and Sylvia Sobraj, Sarvan Budhu, and Naresh Singh, who have literally transformed the aesthetics of the Cove and John Ashram, as well as added to its educational capabilities in Information Technology, with Naresh Singh giving his personal care and attention to the quality of education imparted in this field of his own particular expertise.
Head of the IT Department of the Hindu College and the PRANAV Computer Centre and Library, young Sham Sundar is one of the new breed of educators who are particular about students not merely learning about usage of computers, but also about their maintenance and care; so tuition at the classes is holistic in approach and execution.
Soon to come on stream at the Ashram is technical vocational training, with the facilities under construction and continuing apace.  This addition to the already varied dimensions to education, already on offer, will allow and enable students with facilities for various specialized skills to enhance and hone
those skills while simultaneously acquiring their basic academic education, which is a tertiary component being added to the multi-dimensional facets of education already being provided to the students by a family of educators, with a new breed of modern thinkers that span the globe under the blessings of the Supreme Acharya and founder of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha — Jagad Guru Acharya Swami Pranavanandaji Maharaji.