The oft repeated
complaint about education in India is that it has become a business and a means
for making money. The schools run by the dioceses and religious congregations
are also not free from this accusation. For a large majority of the people who
make use of the private educational institutions, education is a service and
the educational agencies are service providers like any other service provider.
The parents check the quality of the service and choose the one which they can
afford. Once the students go out the school or college, very rarely the student
or the parents have any relationship with the institution in which he/she
studied. There may be a very few students who keep contact with their alma
mater. The owners of the educational institutions are satisfied as long as they
can manage good result and get enough admission. The students who speak of the
influence or impact the school or college made on their lives are also very
rare.
Often the dioceses
and religious congregations claim that for them education is a mission. But the
million dollar question is whether education has become a mission in reality. The
mission of a disciple of Jesus is nothing but the continuation of the mission
of Jesus in view of realizing his vision. The vision of Jesus is establishment
of the Reign of God. Reign of God as envisaged by Jesus and depicted in the
Gospels is a situation in which God is accepted as the Father/Mother and all
human beings as brothers and sisters with equal rights and opportunities.
The same vision is also found in the preamble
of the Indian constitution. The vision of India is a sovereign socialist,
secular, democratic republic where all citizens enjoy justice, equality, liberty,
and fraternity that ensure the dignity of all individuals. Realization of the
Reign of God demands individual and social transformation.
In the context of
India the realization of the Reign of God requires two types of transformation.
The first type of transformation is liberation and empowerment of the poor as
described in Lk 4:16-20. The second is a transformation in the mindset of the
rich and the middle class, a transformation that makes them sensitive to the
needs of the poor and the underprivileged groups, a transformation that enables
them to see God in every human being, especially the poor and the needy, and a
transformation that makes them aware of their social responsibility.
After being involved
in the field of social work as a grass root level worker, chief functionary of
NGOs and a trainer and consultant for more than 35 years, I have come to the
conclusion that the best way for the empowerment of the poor is quality
education that has been denied to them by the politicians of this country. The
crafty politicians, irrespective of their party affiliations, try to keep the
poor as a vote bank by providing them with freebies and depriving them of the
key to get out of their deprivation and powerlessness. Large majority of the
poor in India are enrolled either in the government schools or the substandard
private schools where the quality of learning outcomes is very poor. Bulk of
them drop out before passing class ten and join the unskilled labour force or
the daily wage workers.
My limited study
during the last 35 years has convinced me that the best way to liberate the
poor from the web of multiple inequalities is quality education, an education
that enhances their competence and character and makes them aware of their
rights and duties as well. Income generation activities and creation of employment
facilities can improve the economic condition of the poor, but it is to be used
for accessing quality education for their children if they have to come out of
the vicious circle of poverty.
The present education
system encourages cutthroat competition and as a result the students become
highly ambitious. Often the goal of education is limited to getting a high
paying job and amassing wealth. That is why a few poor people, who have been successful
in breaking the shackles of poverty and join the middle class or the rich,
become insensitive or indifferent to the poor. Hence quality education to poor
should also focus on creating a broad, inclusive and lasting vision in the
students so that they become agents of social transformation, committed to the
realization of the vision of the Indian constitution.
Majority of the students who
study in the English Medium private schools and colleges run by the Church
organizations are from the middle class and it provides great opportunity for
the Church personnel to influence them with the values of Jesus and bring about
changes in them in view of realizing the Reign of God. At the same time, it is
a great challenge to change their mindset in the context of today. Large
majority of the middle class in India has become the blind followers of
Hindutva ideology and blind supporters of the BJP whose ultimate goal is to
convert India into a Hindutva Rashtra. They are highly ambitious and they are
becoming less and less sensitive to the underprivileged and the poor in the
society. Hence the dual challenge before the Church personnel involved in
education is to make the students upholders and promoters of the vision and
values of Indian Constitution and to instil in them sensitivity and concern for
the poor, if the education ministry has to become a mission.
The middle class plays a crucial
role in the government and the society as political leaders, bureaucrats,
professionals and entrepreneurs etc. Now the curial question is how far the
dioceses and religious congregations that run the educational institutions are able
to influence them? According to the CBCI website of Education Commission, the
Catholic Church in India runs about 50,000 educational institutions with about 5
core students. Naturally the Church has access to about 10 crore parents and
lakhs of alumni. This is a huge opportunity for the Church personnel to be in
touch with millions of Indians and to influence them with the values of
Jesus.
I have been in the Universal
Solidarity Movement (USM), Indore for the last six years. I am actively
involved in the Enlightened Leadership Training for High School students. My
experience with the USM has convinced me that attitudinal change can be brought
about in the middle class through the youth because I have seen remarkable
changes taking place in the students who undergo the leadership training in
USM.
The most important change that is
noticed in the students is increased sensitivity and compassion towards the poor
and the less privileged in the society. Secondly, they also become the
promoters the core values of Indian constitution, especially pluralism. The training
process makes them understand that pluralism is acceptance, appreciation and
celebration of diversities and that is the heritage of India.
The changes that have taken place
in the students are reflected in their resolutions. A good number of students
resolve either to reduce consumption of junk food and aerated drinks and use
the money thus saved to help the needy children. The other resolutions include
celebrating birthday with inmates of an orphanage or old age home, stopping the
use of crackers on festivals,
not
wasting food and honouring every human being, especially domestic help, driver,
gardener and respecting all religions and not to discriminate anyone on the
basis of religion or caste.
I have visited a few schools and
interacted with the parents of the students who had participated in the
leadership training. More than 90% of the parents shared with me that
remarkable changes have taken place in their children as a result of taking
part in the training and the changes are sustainable. The most important change
the parents noticed in their children is increased sensitivity towards the poor
and the less privileged in the society. The noble values and habits that
children pick up at a young age will generally remain in them throughout their
life.
After being in USM
for 6 years and observing how the students imbibe the values of compassion, honesty,
pluralism, inclusiveness, respect for every human person etc I am confirmed in
my conviction that the students of our schools can be made the disciples of
Jesus, if the school authorities and teachers become mentors. Baptising the
students, parents and teachers into the values of Jesus and the way of Jesus without
changing their religion can be realized through the educational apostolate.
The schools need to
take certain concrete steps to make the students and teachers the disciples of
Jesus and thereby transform education into a mission.
·
Value
inculcation, especially the values of the Indian Constitution, should be one of
the top priorities of the school and all teachers and parents should be aware
of it.
·
The Church
personnel who are part of the school should become the role models of
practicing the core values of Jesus and they must motivate the teachers also to
practice those values. More number of Church personnel should be involved in
teaching.
·
Teachers
should be trained to become mentors. The principal and the teachers should
undergo a professional training every year in view of updating themselves.
·
The
teachers and other staff members should be made partners of the school through
participatory planning, monitoring and evaluation and practice of transparency.
·
The school
has to build excellent public relations with the local people, officials, and
local leaders.
·
The
principals of schools should not be transferred routinely every three years or
six years. They should be in the school for a long time in view of mentoring
the teachers and building relationship with the parents and local people. A
vice principal who is trained under the principal should take over the charge
from the latter in course of time.
(Published
on 24th August 2020, Volume XXXII, Issue 35)
