A Christian school resulting from a dream!

There is in the slum area of Hyderabad a school that stands out like a beacon. It is called Morningstar School. The huge blue building stands by itself in an open area close by the slums.

Mr. Joseph told us this story. Many years ago he and his eight sisters were left without parents. In the Indian culture that meant that he must provide for the welfare of the family. He did so by joining the army and sending his earnings home to his sister.

It was always Mr. Joseph’s dream that there would be a Christian school for the poorest people. When he retired from the army he used all of his pension to build the school that has become known as Morningstar. It is a huge school for pre-kindergarten through grade 10. The extended Joseph family lives in part of the school and they all work to provide the best quality of education that they can.

The teachers at Morningstar School are very dedicated. Even though they know that they could earn more money teaching in a state school they are happy to be in this school. The teaching day is very long for them. After the normal day is over children who need extra help come for tutoring in the evening. The tutoring is done by the teachers.

Morningstar School is completely self-sustaining. 50% of the children pay a small amount of tuition. The other 50% of the children are not able to do so. Yet, Mr. Joseph is so good at managing money that he can keep the school going just from the tuition the children bring!

Miss Sazeena Joseph, the niece of the Joseph’s, is the principal of the school. The children come to school knowing only their local language. In school they must learn to read and write Hindi. All of the instruction is in English and the children must learn to read and write English, also. It is amazing to learn that almost 100% of the students who leave the school score high enough marks on their exams that they can go to the school of their choice at the next level.

This is an amazing story!