Preliminary note concerning Dr. Madhavi Majmudar: She sat on the Board of Directors of the Sathya Sai School, Leicester, for several years, until she joined in a cover-up of reported abuses there. The drawn-out crisis over the running of the Sathya Sai School, the furore over the bullying of a child by Mrs. Usha Lim, the headmistress, and sexual harassment of a fellow teacher by her husband (Mr. Chi Ho Lim - employed at the Physical Education teacher), involved the social services in Leicester. This eventually led to the dismissal of two more cult-indoctrinated involved persons; the Head of education committee of SSWF (Sathya Sai World Fund), who lost his head(ship) and one of the directors of the Sathya Sai School in Leicester, Dr. Madhavi Majmudar likewise.

The following report came to me from a concerned person:-
“Mr Kalyan Ray (The head of the education committee Sri Sathya Sai World Fund) was kicked out of his post and also the Sai baba-devoted women Dr Madhavi Majmudar from the education committee –the reason being the mess they created by sweeping matters under the carpet and hiding the facts from the whole world, ignoring the complaining parents who ultimately went to the social services to complain against the bullying head teacher Mrs Usha Lim.

All this corruption led the Sathya Sai World Fund's new head of the education committee, Australian Dr Pal Dhall, and other international delegates to inquire about the happenings in SS School Leicester and interview the school board and parents (April 2013)… The school was denied the use of the name 'Sathya Sai' but continued to use it, and the UK Sathya Sai Trust ceased to fund the enterprise which led to it closure in autumn 2014.

Comments on Article by Dr Madhavi Majmudar on Peace Education (SSEHV)

By Serguei Badaev

The British Sathya Sai Education in Human Values Institute (SSEHV) website posted the above-named article by Dr Madhavi Majmudar, which is actually about the Sathya Sai Education in Human Values programme.  Firstly, the site talks about honesty and other human values, so it would therefore be honest to make a clear connection between this programme and Sathya Sai Baba, by telling people who he is. For example that he repeatedly claims to be God Incarnate etc. Though Sathya Sai Baba is not the author of this programme and has himself never elaborated it , he is the figure behind it, kept behind the curtain. This indicates there is some 'hidden  curriculum' here.

Secondly, the article by Dr Madhavi Majmudar refer in abundance to the  publications of the Thailand Institute. The whole Thailand  Institute is apparently a small group of 3 people: Dr Jumsai, Dr Judo and Mrs Burrows.  I read their publications on SSEHV and have to say that I was rather disappointed. I am not a major specialist in education and psychology but it  was clear for me those publications were absolutely ignorant of what has been researched and discovered by in this area before. The concepts were very poorly articulated and mostly were compilations of quotations or paraphrasing of what has been said by SSB in his discourses. All this is quite far from any international pedagogical standards in this field, I am afraid. Unfortunately, Dr Madhavi  Majmudar's article shares those same standards.

Without going into details here, but I would like to emphasize several points that are common to the whole SSEHV movement and really undermine the creditability of this enterprise, whatever the good intentions there may otherwise be behind it...

 (1) SSEHV does not take into account seriously the developmental aspect of the human  being, especially the child. It is not based on any expressed theory of moral and spiritual development or possible corresponding pathologies.

(2) SSEHV pays no conscious attention to the problem of the human ego. According  to the SSB's teaching, 'ego' should be destroyed. This is a simplistic metaphor which can be very misleading, for every child should form a mature 'ego' in the psychological sense of the word, which is the most common meaning of 'ego' in educational and other psychology. Any disturbance of this process can lead to serious psychological problems which cannot be cured by any amount of 'positive experience' and which would need specialised therapeutic interference.

(3) SSEHV closes its eyes on development of critical thinking in children. The whole attitude to criticism in the SSO as a negative - even 'evil' - thing prevents

the natural development of this ability in children and leads to lack of feedback and distortions of facts in any community.

(4) SSEHV does not refer to democratic models of community. The SSO is strictly hierarchical organisation and under its umbrella it is naive to expect justice and human rights to flourish. SSB has stated on occasion that what is needed is not human rights, but human duties. True justice, in his view, is to be left entirely to God, not to mankind. This authoritarian distortion of human values can soon lead to totalitarianism. 

(5) Where are those model teachers who should teach SSEHV with love and wisdom? That is, who will choose them? What process will produce them? To my mind the  system of SSEHV as it is cannot do so. Nor can the environment alone achieve this. The British SSEHV website itself lacks any sort of  forum. There is  exchange of opinions, no discussion of problems, no  sharing or support; which also has characterised the Sai Organisation in its rules, regulations and practices right since its inception.