His Holiness Swa­mi Akhilanand Ji Maharaj founded the college. It was set up to cater for the growing needs of youngsters who wanted to pursue their secondary education. This was also a significant event as it provided new educational op­portunities to girls whose education was often hindered by traditional beliefs and prejudices.

The doors of this school are open to all Mau­ritians, irrespective of creed or colour, giving special attention  to the poor and the needy students. Now a full fledged institution, it comprises modern buildings, sports complex, fully equipped science laboratories, li­brary, art room, computer rooms, audio visual rooms and specialist room for home economics, fashion and fabrics, and design and communication.

Moher Dharamdeo, Rector of the school, says: “In spite of having a population mostly from the average and below average CPE students, our academic  performance  has always been  above 65% at the SC and  above 60%  at the HSC.”

The administration of this school feels that total education and deve-lopment of the pupils depend on the right balance of academic and non academic activities. Moral education and human values are its two striking aspects. At DAV, the morning assembly  starts with a prayer and  classwise the students perform the Yajna with an officiating priest in the hall.

Teaching values
Deeya Domah, Deputy Rector, says : “After the prayer for about twenty minutes, the priest delivers a talk on values to the pupils. We try to relate everything to all the principles of the Arya Samaj. It is a rare school where pupils, irrespective of religion, are part of such value-laden atmosphere.”

“Owing to a change in lifestyle, many families don't have enough time to inculcate values in the children. At least we are trying to fill that vacuum.” she adds.

Discipline is a sensitive issue and much talked about these days. Acts of discipline, started at an early age will definitely help in making a better tomorrow. The DAV administration firmly believes in moulding its pupils from Form I  as soon as they join school.

“We are rigorous and advocate values and discipline, but not oppressive and abusive discipli­ne. Our strength is that we believe  more in student-centred approach. For a better solution, be it discipline, learning difficulty or any problem of the pupils, it is very important to listen to them. It has to be an individual approach. All teachers need to talk to students in a more positive way. Children come with a mindset of flouting all the rules and regulations. If we are aggressive, they will react negatively. We strongly believe in that, and keep a good rapport with them,” Deeya adds.

The school has many low achievers. Special at­tention is paid to them. In fact, the school keeps a record of each such stu­dent to diagnose their problem. Help is provided to hardship cases and needy students.

Low achievers
Deeya says : “The low achievers are also guided throughout their stay. Although it is now that the PRB has made it mandatory for extension classes, we have been doing this since long. Our teachers conduct supplementary classes during holidays, stay after school hours and help by repeating the lesson and notes. Needy students having financial problems are given free tuition. The teachers here work in team and run workshops to find means and ways to help the low achievers.”

The Rector also attri­butes the success of the pupils to the hard work and dedication of the teaching staff.

“Teachers share a huge responsibility in empowering their students with appropriate skills and attitudes. As role models, we make it our duty to motivate and inspire  students,” Dha­ramdeo adds.

If better performance  comes with high sense of social, moral and ethical values, then this is due to reading good books, says Deepak Na­rain Pada­ruth, library officer since 1982. Such a habit is inculcated in the students by  the school, he adds.

Apart from having a class library, the school has a central library na­med Teelakdhury Calli­churn Pustakala­ya. It hou­ses a rich and im­men­se collection of  encyclopaedias, dictionaries, references, magazines and readable books. This hall is easily accessible and interesting to spend a day there. Reference cards, stacks, and language classified books are well maintained. It also has a  lot of religious and spiritual ones which are equally important not only in developing reading habit but moulding the personality of the child.

He says: “ My day at school starts and ends here. It is not just about managing and updating library; I too need to update myself. I make it a point to read many books and newspapers so that I can help students with their reference work. Students often neglect reading when they don't get what exactly they are looking for.”

He says the teachers and especially the form masters monitor the reading class. They ask  pupils to read and tell the summary of the story. There is a library period once a week for all forms. The library officer monitors the reading. How­ever, the school makes this period look like something light, a lively play and not  like a formal subject.

“It should be relaxing so that students start loving to read. We have good readers who borrow ten books at a time. Even teaching and non teaching staff comes here to read. At times, it is difficult to manage a big library alone. But I enjoy my work,” Deepak adds.

If the teaching is more benched and theory based, it yields very low output. Such an approach of teaching makes students switch off very easily. Hence teaching needs to be a practical, lively with more outdoor activities and experiments. Life in the lab is a new science project taken up at DAV. The Form I students  collect data , photographs of different plants and animals. They focus on the subject they  study and sample those features on bristol paper. The students also share among themselves a lot of experimental objects.

Deeya Domah, who is the main advocate of this project, points out that  since its inception the junior students enjoy it. They learn about writing, data processing, collection of useful samples.

“Without tiring and getting bored, students learn the skills of observation and all the basic skills of science,” she adds.

For this simple experiment with  plants and animals, the class is divided into five groups. They will be participating in the National symposium which will be held in July. Only the Form I pupils are involved because the administration  believes in changing the mindset first if one is  geared towards  better education.