The Green School in Bali, Indonesia

The Green School in Bali, Indonesia

Whilst I was at the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2009, in October, I had the privilege of being invited to visit the Green School.  I had met the Director, Ron Stones OBE, the previous year at a dinner he hosted for UWRF 2008, and we stayed in touch.  Ron has a remarkable career history, with many lessons about having the courage to follow the unknown path of greatest joy.  

http://www.greenschool.org/staff/director.htm

 

Anyway, I could write a very technically correct article about the Green School in Bali but you can read all of that here:

http://www.greenschool.org

 

 

I’m going to focus on my impressions. 

  

The Green School is founded on the principle of giving its students a holistic education which equips them to promote a sustainable future for human life on Earth.  It is built on the very principle which it teaches – the primary building material is renewable bamboo.

  

The location and architecture of the school are absolutely stunning.

  

Car park -- SUV's do make sense here in Bali, but not in Chelsea, London. 

Approach to school

  Covered bridge

 

Inside the bridge

Nearly there

 

  

The Director extends a warm welcome.

 

 A typical school corridor

Stunning buildings

Report to the Principal's office!

'Nice office, mate.'

The Principal is Andrew Dalton.  He used to be a teacher somewhere in the Liverpool area of England.  Obviously, he can’t go back there now that I’ve published this photograph.

Andrew Dalton -- Principal of The Green School

    

The children seemed really happy, engaged, and upbeat.  There is no hint of gang culture, bullying or shallow materialist/fashion competition.  The older children play with the younger children, without this being considered ‘un-cool’.  Very importantly, the staff also seemed very content, committed, and not in the least disillusioned or tired. 

 

Heart of School' -- stunning!   

  A classroom

 

Schoolbags

A typical schooldesk

 

Staffroom

  
 

 

Such an air of utter calm. 

 

Reminds me of the check-in area at the Four Seasons.

 

Ron Stone's OBE -- one of Britain's most valuable exports.  Come back to Britain, Ron, and fix the education system. 

'Did someone mention lunch?'

 

The atmosphere in the dining hall was very relaxed and the food was absolutely excellent: healthy, appetizing and visually attractive.  This was a far cry from my days of ‘school dinners’ and competition to get the fish and chips before they ran out.   

 

'What, no Spam?'

 

 

No washing up.

 

 

Ron told me something really exciting. Whilst the school currently draws on electricity from the local grid, it is planning – through a combination of hydro-electric, solar and wind power generators – to become self-sufficient in electricity, and even to become a net contributor to the grid. 

 

IT department

'Stunning!' -- I keep using that word

Sponsors

Whilst it’s true that the Green School is a private fee-paying school, with a large number of relatively prosperous foreign families, 20% of the places are given to local children on full scholarships. 

 

 

Umbrella stand

 

More sponsors

Workshop in progress.  Uniformed kids are visiting from a local school.

When the children were being taught, ‘Where does chocolate come from?’, they personally performed the entire process themselves: growing the beans, harvesting, crushing, extraction, fermentation, drying, milling,  pressing etc, to produce their own chocolate bars.  And all without any machines.

The students even built their own common room, getting deeply involved in the design and build process. 

 

Despite this ‘hands on’ approach to learning about things you and I might take for granted (I thought chocolate came from supermarkets), there is no less emphasis on academic subjects: English, maths, science and so on, and the curriculum meets the standards required to achieve rigorous and internationally recognised qualifications.

Why can’t every school be like this?

 

I’m not suggesting that every school in the world can be built of bamboo, but I do believe that every school could adhere to Green School principles – a holistic environment where the children feel safe and nurtured, the staff are happy and feel appreciated (and safe!), there are no gangs, tribalism or bullying, and the rounded education includes development of the capacity to think, to have compassion, and to actively work to protect and sustain our fragile planet.  From some quarters, such views would get me called a naive dreamer, an irresponsible hippy, or a socialist or communist. 

 

But looking at the children and staff of the school, gazing at the environment, and breathing in the magical atmosphere, I say, ‘Why not?’ 

 

www.unimagined.org

Comments

[Nicola]

What a wonderfully inspiring article - thank you Imran. Would love you to contribute this article for our readers at theginlady.com and share with more people.

[Imran Ahmad]

Dear Nicola,

Thank you for your kind words.

I note that 'The Gin Lady' refers to Green, Independent and Natural, and not to the forbidden (to me) mood-altering drink of the same name.

I love your website!

http://www.theginlady.com/

You are more than welcome to link/lift this article for 'The Gin Lady'.

I believe that we are all part of the same global movement, committed to peace, compassion, responsibility, and care for our precious Earth.

Peace,

Imran

[curtis johnson realty]

Having a classroom that is functional yet doesn't require a lot of financing because the materials are just available around, this is really a great project. Looking after the welfare of man and the environment is a call for all of us. Thanks a lot for the initiative. I adore your creativity.

[renee cope]

your article and reviews about green school is excellent. how i'd love to have your experiences as well!!