Ramakrishna Institute of Moral and Spiritual Education at 50: Celebrating a legacy of value-based education

The golden jubilee of Ramakrishna Institute of Moral and Spiritual Education (RIMSE) was celebrated in Mysuru on Saturday (November 22), and its role in pioneering value-based education in the country was highlighted to mark the occasion.

Established in 1974 as a unit of Sri Ramakrishna Ashram in Mysuru which is celebrating its centenary, RIMSE was established to produce teachers steeped in moral and ethical values. It has offered B.Ed courses since its inception.

Though RIMSE has not offered these courses since 2019, it continues to offer spiritual and summer retreats throughout the year to high school and college students, teachers, corporate employees, and so on.

But over the years, it has produced thousands of teachers trained in teaching methodologies laying emphasis on moral, ethical, and spiritual aspects. It has emerged as a torchbearer of value-based education in its true sense.

Y.N. Sridhar, former principal, RIMSE, who delivered a speech to mark the occasion, recalled that the institute was one of a kind and not like any other college offering B.Ed courses. The syllabus on moral and value-based education was designed by Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, and this came to be known as the RIMSE model, he added.

A unique aspect was that courses in spirituality and philosophy used to be led by seers of the mutt, and it left a lasting impression on future teachers, many of whom are now serving in different parts of the State and country, said Mr. Sridhar.

While value-based education used to be mentioned in passing earlier, it is a core component of the New Education Policy and thus RIMSE, which laid emphasis on it, was in many ways a forerunner of imparting such an education, according to former students.

S.B. Nityanand, a former student of RIMSE and a teacher, said that the task of nation-building and resolving myriad challenges and issues plaguing the country is impossible with the existing education system and a passing emphasis on morals and ethics. The need of the hour is emphasis on value-based education, the kind devised and imparted by RIMSE, he added.

Swami Satyeshananda of Sri Ramakrishna Mutt and Mission, Belur Mutt, Howrah, said every branch of Ramakrishna Ashram is a centre promoting moral and ethical values. Swami Jitakanamanda, president, Sri Ramakrishna Mutt, Mangaluru, Swami Muktidananda, president, Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, Mysuru, Swami Muktinathananda, president, Ramakrishna Mutt, Lucknow, and others were present.