About
About the school
Founded in 1984 in Gangtok, rooted in human values, affiliated to CBSE.
Our story
A school born of a single conviction
Founded on 6 May 1984 at the express command of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, who entrusted the task to Mrs. Phigu Tshering Tenzin of Gangtok, Sri Satya Sai Prashanti Vidya Mandir began in her own residence on Tibet Road with three Nursery classes and Class I. It grew from a simple belief: that the true purpose of education is the building of character. From its first prospectus the school has carried one line as its compass: the end of education is character, and the end of wisdom is freedom.
Today it is a secondary school affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education and accredited as a Sai School by the Institute of Sathya Sai Education. Since 1995 it has been nurtured by SPACE Sikkim, and generations of its students now carry its values across the country and beyond. The school professes no religious dogma or creed; its aim, in Bhagawan's words, is the discovery of one's own true and innate nature.
Prashanti Vidya Mandir is an initiative of SPACE Sikkim Charitable Trust, a Public Charitable Trust.
Four decades, one instruction
The road from 1983
1983
The instruction
At Prashanti Nilayam, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba instructs Mrs. Phigu Tshering Tenzin to start a values school in Sikkim — a school that would be an example of schooling for excellence.
1984
The first bell
On 6 May, the school opens at her residence, Prashanti Niketan on Tibet Road, Gangtok. Swami himself spells out the theme for the emblem, saying it represents the vision and mission of the school.
1995
Held in trust
SPACE Sikkim Charitable Trust takes up the stewardship of the school, carrying the founder’s work forward as a public charitable institution.
Today
A CBSE school with a soul
Hundreds of day scholars and boarders, an affiliation to CBSE, and the same morning prayer — four decades of children who learnt that the end of education is character.
Tomorrow
The permanent campus
Land held at Parbing for a permanent home, and a larger vision beyond it: a campus where academics, music and the arts grow together under one roof of values.
Milestones
Four decades, one conviction
In Brindavanam, Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba receives Mrs. Phigu Tshering Tenzin of Gangtok in an interview she would remember for the rest of her life.
At Bhagawan's express command, the school opens on 6 May in her own residence on Tibet Road: three Nursery classes and Class I. The date is kept as Foundation Day to this day.
SPACE Sikkim Charitable Trust takes the school under its care, carrying the founder's work forward as an institution.
Accreditation as a Sai School by the Institute of Sathya Sai Education, and affiliation to the Central Board of Secondary Education, No. 1820149.
A secondary school of the hills where generations of alumni carry its values across India and beyond, and where the founder's song still opens every morning.
The road ahead
What we are working toward
A permanent campus
Land at Parbing has been secured for the school's own campus, the next chapter of a story that began in a family home.
Sai Abhyudaya
A conservatory of music, art and life, growing out of the school's oldest tradition. saiabhyudaya.com
Access for every child
Sponsorships and support that keep deserving children in school, so that no child of character is turned away by circumstance.
Support this →The heart of our school
The Four Cardinal Values
At Prashanti Vidya Mandir, values are not a subject on the timetable; they are the air the school breathes. Through the Sathya Sai programme of Education in Human Values, every lesson, every assembly and every quiet moment becomes an invitation for a child to grow in character.
SathyaTruth
Speaking and living honestly, in thought, word and deed.
Lived here in morning reflection, and in classrooms where every question may be asked.
DharmaRight Conduct
Doing what is right, and meeting one's duties with integrity.
Lived here in responsibilities taken seriously, from the classroom to the smallest daily task.
ShantiPeace
An inner stillness that holds steady through difficulty.
Lived here in silent sitting, the quiet minutes that begin each day.
PremaLove
Compassion and selfless care, extended freely to all.
Lived here in the way elders watch over the young, and teachers know every name.
Drawn from the Sathya Sai approach to education, the programme weaves these four values through the school day: in storytelling and silent sitting, in group singing and selfless service, and above all in the example our teachers set. Children learn not only what is true and right, but how to live it.
Read our emblem
Every mark on the crest has meaning
The elephants
A pair of elephant heads bears the school motto on their trunks. The elephant is wisdom and strength, fortitude and self discipline, devotion and discrimination: the qualities an education should awaken.
The wheel
Within the circle turns a wheel of eight spokes: the wheel of Dharma and the wheel of Time. Practising right conduct in the living present is the way to the divine. Live in the present, which is omnipresent.
The lotus
Born of slush and mire, the lotus holds its head aloft, unstained, reaching for the light and offering its nectar freely. It is purity, serenity and selflessness: the child the school hopes to raise.
The water
Water forms the ground of the whole emblem, as it forms the ground of creation. It cleanses and it sustains, the quiet source beneath everything that grows.
The theme of the logo was spelt out by Bhagawan Himself, who asked that a good artist design it with care, for the emblem holds the vision and mission of the school.