Education and Arya Samaj

The eighth principle of the Arya Samaj’s creed states that ‘ignorance must be dispelled and knowledge be disseminated’. With this emphasis on education, Dayanand argued passionately that the Vedas do not prohibit education of females (the Arya Samaj was the first to open girls’ schools in India) and of the ‘lower’ castes, but insist on it. The Arya Samaj social reform movement continues to work tireless towards access to education for everyone.

The first Hindi school was opened by the Arya Samaj in Mauritius on 18 July 1918. Gradually other subjects were introduced and the school became a government-aided institution. In 1920 there were 75 Hindi schools in Mauritius and following pressure from the Arya Samaj , Asian languages were included in the curriculum of schools in Mauritius. The teaching of Hindi gained impetus when another Aryan Vedic School was established in 1938. A teacher training school for Hindi teachers was also established.

The establishment of D.A.V. College by the Arya Sabha Mauritius on 11 January 1965 satisfied some of the need for Hindi education at secondary level. Currently, the Arya Sabha Mauritius operates two D.A.V Colleges in Mauritius