The Transcendental Meditation Programme rids students of the acute stress that cripples the learning process and undermines health and academic achievements.

Transcendental Meditation—a solution to educational problems within easy reach
by Global Good News staff writer
12 June

The Telegraph-Journal of New Brunswick, Canada, reports that Clarence Cormier, former education minister under Hatfield, previous mayor of Dieppe, and now the president of the Canadian Association for Stress-Free Schools, feels he has the a solution to educational problems.

Cormier expressed that, in his position as education minister, he investigated all programmes available for students to maximize their education. His finding—‘The Transcendental Meditation programme is the only programme that I know of that could help every student.’

Cormier was interviewed by the Telegraph-Journal in late May when Dr Ashley Deans, director of Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment in Fairfield, Iowa, USA spoke in Saint John and Moncton, New Brunswick on the value of Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation Technique.

Deans, with the support of movie director, David Lynch, has travelled worldwide sharing his experience when students practise Transcendental Meditation.

Backed by extensive scientific research on the benefits of Transcendental Meditation, he tells of the success of the students at Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment, including 95 per cent of graduates being offered admission to four-year colleges, and students in grades 10 to 12 consistently receiving standardized test scores in the top one per cent nationally. Deans explains, ‘The technique is so simple for children. It allows the mind to settle down to the state of inner silence.'

Cormier, as president of the Canadian Association for Stress-Free Schools, would like Transcendental Meditation to be part of the common curriculum. While at the time he was education minister there was not receptivity to implementing Transcendental Meditation in schools, his desire is reaching fulfilment now.

Deans, reflecting on the low interest which he also found in the past, commented to the Telegraph-Journal, ‘The beauty of an uphill battle is that once you get to the top of the hill everything is easy from there on. I have been at this for 35 years now and we have completed that battle. Thirty years ago . . . people would say this is crazy, people didn’t understand what we were talking about. But now . . . the evidence is there.'

School by school, Deans is implementing the Transcendental Meditation Programme worldwide, with schools in over 50 countries taking advantage of the opportunity. In Canada, ‘the Canadian Association for Stress-Free Schools provides educators, government leaders, health professionals, and foundations with a complete introduction to the meditation program.’

Transcendental Meditation is being utilized in eight Canadian schools and a New Brunswick First Nations school is currently in the beginning stages of making the programme available. The high stress levels, which lead to substance abuse, behavioral problems, teacher burnout, and low academic performance, are happily being eliminated.

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