Appendlx. 4 Bhaktivedanta Academy for Culture & Education (BACE)

What is BACE?

 

Bhaktivedanta Academy for Culture and Education (BACE) is an organization oriented towards training youth and children in moral and spiritual values based on the timeless principles of Bhagavad-gita, Shrimad Bhagavatam and the Vedas. ISKCON Youth Forum (IYF) is its youth wing and Bhakta Prahlad School (BPS) is its children wing. BACE also has extension centers next to many engineering institutes to cater to the needs of the youth. There are over six BPS centers that operate once in a week for a couple of hours in training over 300 children in Pune. Now BACE also has a Value Education training program for the school children belonging to 8th, 9th and 10th standards. These classes are held in the school once a week in the morning throughout the year and over 2000 children in Pune are benefited from these courses.

 

All the courses offered by BACE are certificate courses. They are based on performance of the student with respect to attendance, understanding, participation, submission of assignments and participation in tests. BACE has offered these courses to over 10,000 students over the past eight years. While the BACE encompasses youth and children activities, the term BACE also refers to a specialized youth hostel, which aims to give a solid spiritual base to the lives of youths and to society at large. A BACE is usually an apartment or bungalow located strategically very close to major colleges so that spiritually inclined students can easily come for the programs and serious devotee students can also reside together. Each center is like a mini-ISKCON temple, complete with altar, morning program, kitchen, prasadam distribution, book distribution, reading room, well-equipped library of books and audio and video tapes, accommodation for staying and visiting students and, most importantly, systematic spiritual education. A four-member team comprising  of  Preacher,   Branch  Manager,  Acting  Manager  and Overall Coordinator runs each of the BACE Youth centers all over India.