Transcendental Meditation A Subject At Dutch Secondary School

LELYSTAD, 05/07/06 - Lelystad is to get a school where the subject transcendental meditation (TM) is to be taught. Initiator Sjoerd Vos expects the government to approve the plan, because the school is founded on religious principles.

Earlier this year, a public school (De Rietlanden) in Lelystad attempted to provide meditation lessons. Education Minister Maria Van der Hoeven put a stop to the plan. According to the minister, only special schools (founded on religious or ideological principles) are permitted to offer such subjects.

The new school is to be “a normal educational institute, but with additional subjects such as meditation”, as Vos explained yesterday. “Regular education does not pay any attention to a child’s development. Allowing a child to calm down will increase the capacity of the child’s spirit and intelligence”.

The thirty or so pupils will be instructed in meditation techniques as taught by the guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Leeuwarden and Maastricht are to get similar schools, Vos predicted.

Vos adds that plenty of teachers have already been found for the school in Lelystad, the growth town east of Amsterdam. The exact number of pupils is not yet known. “People have shown a great deal of interest, but we do not know how many pupils we are going to be teaching”.

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