EDUCÆRE

EDUCÆRE

The Oxford English Dictionary states that the word “Education” has a double Latin root. The first is Educare which means to foster, to nourish, to feed. The second is Educere, which means to elicit, to call forth and bring to light. Both approaches are necessary and complementary to each other and they are contained in the term EDUCÆRE.

EDUCÆRE is a term adopted to cover all the SSEHV educational programmes, aimed at helping humanity draw out the goodness inherent in man. The image of a sculptor, whose work of art reveals the beauty hidden within a rough piece of marble, helps us grasp the sense and meaning of this process. Michelangelo used to say that every block of marble contained a statue, and that the sculptor brings it to light by cutting away the covering crusts by which the ‘human face divine’ is concealed. In like manner, according to Plato’s Republic, it is the business of the teacher to prune the soul of his pupil of those unnatural layers which hide its true nature, until the human soul stands out in all its pristine grace and purity.

Today many people are ruining their health and the physical environment through the way they live. Wrong eating, alcohol, drugs and high stress levels are increasingly prevalent in affecting health. Commerce, business profits, and personal wealth are being pursued at costs greatly detrimental to the environment, resulting in a negative impact on people’s lives. The purpose of EDUCÆRE is to correct this imbalance. That is why it is sometimes referred to as EduCare, in order to emphasise the need of putting the aspect of 'Care’ back into all dimensions of our lives.

EDUCÆRE is, hence, a holistic system of education which provides practical knowledge for educating for life, and not just for earning a living. It recognises that unity in multiplicity is the ultimate goal of education, resulting in a world which is a better place to live in, for people today, and for future generations.