Bahá’í World News
Service
Material and spiritual
education: 30 years of School of the Nations
5 January 2019
Two high school
students support a group of middle school students as part of the school’s
moral empowerment program.
MACAU — A
Baha’i-inspired international school in Macau is marking its 30th anniversary
this academic year. School of the Nations has become an educational institution
highly regarded for its academic rigor and its integrated approach to the moral
and intellectual development of its students.
“The school’s founders
saw the need for an educational approach that develops students’ intellectual
powers together with the moral and spiritual foundations that will guide them
throughout life,” says Victor Ali, Executive Director of the Badi Foundation,
the school’s parent organization.
“The school had very
humble beginnings. It started in an apartment. And there were more teachers
than students,” adds Vivek Nair, the school’s director.
School of the Nations
opened in 1988 with five students and seven teachers. It grew rapidly,
attracting nearly 100 students in its second year and nearly 200 in its third
year. Eventually, the Macau government donated land where a 7-story facility
was opened in 2008. That new building includes a library that is also
accessible to the public throughout the week.
Today, School of the
Nations has 600 students from kindergarten through high school and 100
teachers.
“We see ourselves as
exploring what it means to be a Baha’i-inspired school,” adds Mr. Nair. Drawing
inspiration on principles such as the harmony of science and religion, the
oneness of humankind, and the independent investigation of truth, the school
takes innovative approaches in refining and offering its curriculum in a manner
that builds on sound educational approaches.