About the Academy

Kirpal Sagar Academy

Introduction

Unity of Man, an international organisation, was founded by Sant Kirpal Singh who was elected President of the World Fellowship of Religions. He preached that all mankind is one and that "The highest order is to rise into universal Brotherhood to consider all creatures your equal". Sant Kirpal Singh was a firm believer in a class-less human society emphasizing that all men, in spite of the distinctive social order to which they belong and the denominational religions to which they owe their allegiance, form but one class or social order.
The most ancient honourable Christian formation, the order of Malta, awarded Sant Kirpal Singh the Golden Star of Malta. With the title "Grand Officer of the order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta", this order was honouring for the first time a non-Christian and was breaking a thousand year old tradition. The year 1979 was declared by India as a National Integration year in the honour of Sant Kirpal Singh. Through his mission it was possible for many countries to transcend all kinds of artificial barriers - territorial, local, national, racial, linguistic, and religious.

In due deference to the wishes of the Sant Kirpal Singh and realizing that the destiny of every country is shaped in her classroom and that India needs today the ablest minds trained for supreme accomplishment in the service of the nation, for position of leadership and influence in business, teaching, journalism, art, science, administrative and defence services, the Unity of Man under the able chairmanship of Dr. Harbhajan Singh Ji, has set up a high standard Residential Institution for boys and girls, on most modern lines, fulfilling the requirement of any public school of international standards.
This institution serves as a light-house and a focal point for secondary school education. It is open to people of all religions, colours, castes and creeds conforming to the ideals of Unity of Man. The Academy has a team of committed and socially aware scholars. It is different from the present convent and public schools, both in the academic curriculum as well as the intent and content of teaching, as first and foremost attention is given to raise the pupil on the moral and higher values of life.

Aim and objective

1. The Academy aims to offer a challenging and balanced education which prepares its pupils for adult responsibilities in the modern world. The students are encouraged to acquire self-discipline within the secure framework of a strong corporate life. The aim will be to create a balanced life at the academy that could provide for complete living instead of one-sided academic learning. The Academy believes that the children are to achieve the most rewarding life for their fellow members of the society.
2. The Academy seeks to provide experiences that eventuate in emotional adjustment, effective social living, physical well-being, intellectual development, and best personality envisaging all round drawing out of the best in the child. The stress will be laid on developing real persons, who as children and later as adults will be able to carry their share of the load, withstand the strains of daily living, face difficulties calmly with reasonable stability. Traits to be developed are confidence, optimism, dependability, integrity, and will to achieve, even when the task is not in line with immediate personal interests. The children will cultivate an appreciation of beauty and some skill in the arts for cultural background. A distinctive objective in training the pupils will be to develop to the fullest extent their powers of initiative and creative thinking. In order to have a creative urge in the children, they will be given ample chances to experiment with novel ideas in the science laboratory and in arts and crafts. There is conscious effort to develop a sense of humour in conjunction with other goals of mental health and physical education.
3. A great stress is laid on strengthening the pupil‘s moral fibre and promotion of cultural, social and spiritual values so that they contribute their best towards the creation of a new social order, divinely conceived and humanly oriented based on the noble and practical message of Sant Kirpal Singh and Dr. Harbhajan Singh Ji nurtured in the philosophy of all that is noble in the great religions of the world. The ideal before the Academy is to turn out the finest specimen of gallant citizens - a live wire force of humanity.

The site, buildings and others facilities

The Academy is located in very healthy surroundings on an area of 200 acres of land and forms a part of the Kirpal Sagar complex. It is five kilometres away from the historic town Rahon near Nawanshahar.

Hostels, mess, classrooms, administrative block, library, laboratories, gymnasium, auditorium, stadium, hospital and residential quarters for the staff have been designed and built with the able guidance of Mr. Hannes Fuchs from Austria.

Student body

Kirpal Sagar Academy is co-educational with a student body of 700 students from more than 11 countries. The academy draws on the richness of all its constituent cultures. Members of the community are supported in developing understanding of their own cultures and cultures of others.

Pupils of the Kirpal Sagar Academy are expected:

• to think and act independently
• to live with and for others
• to demonstrate empathy and respect for others
• to take responsibility for their own actions
• to demonstrate an understanding of and concern for the environment
• to understand structures and systems that perpetuate injustice, violence and oppression within society and between nations, religions and cultures
• to perceive their own place within the structure of social life

Academy values

Kirpal Sagar Academy values the following guiding principles as pre-eminent for all the aspects of its campus life:

• Accountability: All the members of the campus should be able to justify their actions according to the effective pursuit of the mission and goals of the school and particular requirements of their roles.
• Appreciation: Individuals of all groups will appreciate all other members of the campus for their individuality, their gender, and their specific cultural identity.
• Concern for others: All members of the campus will care for the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of all other members of the campus, to the best of their ability.
• Consistency: Policies will be justly applied to all members and to the pursuit of the Academy‘s mission and goals.
• Contexts: The Academy, without losing its global character, will be engaged with its local, Indian and South Asian contexts in all aspects of its programme.
• Co-operation: All members of the campus will work together and resolve conflicts effectively.
• Integrity: Truthfulness and the open sharing of information are the accepted standards of the Academy.
• Openness: The Academy consistently draws on the best resources, models, and ideas available in the world in pursuit of its mission.
• Performance: The Academy expects that the highest possible level of achievement will be pursued by each person.
• Reverence: All members of the Academy will seek to develop their own inner, spiritual life and respect the spiritual efforts of others.

Staff:

Kirpal Sagar Academy has 62 well-qualified professional staff from more than 6 states. Classes are small. Each student receives individual attention. The educational programme is reinforced by 40 support staff and more than 80 operational staff.

Expectations

The staff shall:

• work whole-heartedly as a team supporting the mission statement and affirming the objective of the Academy.
• be expected to view their task as self-giving and sacrificial service. Although the right to privacy is recognized, staff shall be expected to live an exemplary quality of life in keeping with the values of the Academy.
• maintain high standards of professional conduct and quality of instruction subscribing to the curriculum objectives stated in this document, and to the code of professional ethics.
• perform assigned duties and responsibilities in curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities as this is a Residential School.

• Management and administration shall consistently be in accord with the mission and values of the Academy.
• The Administration will co-ordinate, provide resources for, and evaluate the performance of the Academy in its total educational task as defined in its mission and objectives.
• The Administration will carefully manage the financial, property and human resources of the Academy so as to render the best of service to the School‘s mission.
• The Administration of the Academy‘s human resources will be organized in such a way as to assure that:
  • Each employee has a specific job description on the basis of which he/she shall be regularly evaluated and then advised as to how to improve his or her performance.
  • The division of staff duties is clear, consistent and logical.
  • Collegiality and shared decision-making is the norm.
• The administration will be responsible for the interchange with the international educational community necessary to keep the Academy community informed of and challenged by new developments in education that apply to our work and setting.

Management

The Academy is managed by "Unity of Man", a registered charitable trust founded by His Holiness Sant Kirpal Singh. The founder-chairman of Kirpal Sagar is Dr. Harbhajan Singh Ji, and  Karamjit Singh is the present chairman of the trust. The Academy functions under the direction and guidance of an Academic Council comprising leading educationalists, philanthropists, jurists, senior administrators and social workers. The Academy constantly monitors its pattern of education system in the light of the experiences of like-minded institutions, for education in human values.