FINAL
STATEMENT
OF THE 27TH GENERAL BODY MEETING OF CBCI
St. Peter’s Seminary, Bangalore
Catholic
Education
and
the Church’s Concern to the Marginalized
We,
160 Bishops of India, gathered at St. Peter’s Pontifical
Seminary, Bangalore, for the 27th General Assembly of the Catholic
Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), from 8th - 15th February
2006, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, spent three days
of our meeting in prayer, reflection and discussion on the theme:
Catholic Education and the Church’s Concern for the Marginalized”.
We were very ably assisted by the Conference of Religious of
India (CRI). Besides, the Catholic Council of India (CCI) had
also discussed this theme during its Plenary Assembly, and shared
with us its recommendations. At the end of our deliberations,
we address this Message to our faithful and to all people of
goodwill.
Education
has always been an important part of the Church’s mission.
The Vatican Council Document on Education states: “The
Church as a mother is under an obligation to provide for her
children an education by virtue of which their whole lives
may be inspired by the Spirit of Christ. At the same time,
she will offer its assistance to all peoples for the promotion
of a well-balanced perfection of the human personality, for
the good of society in this world and for the development
of a world more worthy of man” (Gravissimum
Educationis, 3).
Keeping
in mind the words of Jesus that He has come to give life and
life in abundance (John 10/10), education, from the standpoint
of Christian faith, aims at the all-round formation of the
human person with a view to empowering the person to create
a society inspired by the Gospel values of service in love,
peace rooted in justice and fellowship based on equality.
This education is meant to lead a person to an ever-greater
openness to the transcendent – for us Christians to
God become one-of-us in Jesus Christ. Hence, one of the important
aims of Catholic education is faith-formation, deepening the
Christian’s commitment to Jesus in His Church.
The Church
in India has been striving to impart this all-round formation
in various ways and various fora. In a special way, the Church
is doing so through her network of educational institutions.
At present, the Church conducts 20,370 educational institutions
in India. According to statistics available to us from a recent
survey conducted in preparation for the CBCI Meeting, 58.5%
of these institutions are in the rural areas and 54.4% of students
in our institutions are girls. It is significant that the vast
majority of our students are children of other faiths. By imparting
a sound character formation and by striving to promote harmony,
understanding and a quest for excellence through our educational
institutions, the Church renders a service not only to Christians,
but also to the nation as a whole.
Along
with our educational institutions, our Diocesan Social Service
societies are doing much work in the field of non-formal education.
Several Christian NGOs are involved in educating the physically
handicapped and others who need special attention.
While the Church in India has reason to be
grateful to God for its achievements in the field of education,
we felt the need of a greater focusing of the Church’s
educational efforts in view of the situation prevailing in the
country wherein millions of people are getting increasingly
marginalized.
By ‘marginalized’ we refer specially to dalits,
tribals and economically weaker sections of society, the migrants
and displaced, the girl-child, slow learners and differently-abled
people. Marginalization has been a phenomenon in our country
from very early days, especially as a result of the caste-system.
Caste discrimination still continues in our country, and sadly
has its repercussions on the Church. As bishops, we re-iterate
our strong condemnation of this as sinful. Marginalization has
been further increased by various factors, the latest being
globalization as a result of which millions of people are rendered
poor and deprived of the basic necessities of life.
Education is the key to
empowering the marginalized so that they can enjoy their God-given
dignity. The government’s educational effort should,
in a special way, be concentrated on the weaker sector of
the people. Hence, we strongly urge that government funding
in this area be greatly enhanced, and that government make
available to the underprivileged facilities to get the benefits
of a quality education. The Church, on her part, as always,
will fully cooperate with the Government in this effort.
As
Church, in imitation of Jesus who made a preferential option
for the poor, we commit ourselves to focus particularly on
the marginalized to enable them to take their rightful place
in the life of the country and make their contribution to
the progress of the nation. Hence, as a body, the CBCI has
decided:
to
ensure that every Catholic child has a place in our educational
institutions. No Catholic child, dalit/tribal or otherwise,
should be deprived of quality education because of a lack
of means. We keep in mind that a Catholic School has a
special obligation to cater to Catholic children.
to
establish more hostels/boarding houses, especially in
rural areas, since these have proved very effective in
imparting a sound education to the marginalized.
to
ensure that every Catholic educational institution has
a special concern for the marginalized, especially the
girl-child. If necessary for this, modification will be
made in our admission policy. Those disadvantaged, socially,
physically or intellectually, will be specially assisted
so that they can be integrated into the educational system.
We make this preferential option, even if in this process
academic results suffer. All Catholic schools whether
run by our dioceses, the religious, corporate bodies or
individuals, are expected to participate in this project.
We deplore all attempts to commercialize education. In
particular, we will not accept capitation fees. We urge
Government to lay down a just fee structure so as to obviate
the need of taking capitation fees and other donations.
to
identify talented children from the marginalized communities
with a view to preparing them for higher and professional
education. Among them, we hope to train a select group
for social and political leadership.
to
make this possible, dioceses and religious congregations
will set aside funds. Well-established schools should
support economically weaker ones.
All
our institutions will immediately start implementing these
proposals. Further, with a view to giving our educational
apostolate a decided thrust towards the marginalized, this
General Assembly of the CBCI lays down that within a year,
a National Education Policy for the Church be drawn up, taking
into account the deliberations at this Meeting. The CBCI Commission
for Education and Culture is hereby entrusted with this task.
In the preparation of this Policy, it will take the help of
SC/ST/BC Commission and the Justice, Peace and Development
Commission as well as the CRI and others engaged in education.
Once this Policy is approved, all the educational institutions
are expected to implement it. The Policy will contain a Monitoring
System to ensure its implementation.
On the occasion of this General Assembly, the bishops would
like to address some specific groups:
To
the parents: you are the first educators of your children.
Our institutions exist to assist you in fulfilling your
God-given responsibility and need your whole-hearted cooperation.
We urge you to use all the facilities we offer to carry
on your mission.
To
our priests, religious and lay faithful involved in the
management of our educational institutions; to the principals
and teachers: we are deeply appreciative of your dedicated
efforts to bring the best out of our children, especially
those who need more assistance. We encourage you to continue
your dedicated service despite obstacles.
To
all our students: you are the hope of society and the
future of the nation. Make full use of the
opportunities offered by our institutions to help you
grow, live a fuller life and build a better tomorrow for
all including those less fortunate than you.
o
our lay faithful who in various ways aid our people, financially
and otherwise, in the process of education, we express
our sincere gratitude. Continue to be involved in
this process for the service of our people.
To
all people of goodwill: we invite you to join hands with
us in the building up of our nation. India has great potential.
Together we can make it happen.
A
special word to those who suffer any form of discrimination:
Deeply pained by the unjust situation in which you are,
the Church commits herself to make concerted efforts,
together with you, to combat this injustice and create
a brighter tomorrow for all of us.
Building
a New India, where every child is educated, where the marginalized
are empowered, where the educational system seeks to transform
society, is our dream. We are confident that with the help
of God, the dedicated service of our priests, religious and
lay faithful, and the collaboration of all, this dream will
become a reality. May Mary, Seat of Wisdom, help us in this
endeavour.
