Xavier Board to set up task force

Panaji, Goa – The Xavier Board, the 53–year–old forum for Catholic colleges, resolved to set up a task force to take up legal issues at the state and national levels. The rich tradition of Catholic education in the country needs protection in order to ensure continuing high standards of excellence and the promotion of minority communities in the Indian mainstream. At the invitation of the Xavier Board, nearly 200 principals, managers, professors and students from about 181 Catholic colleges in India spent four days, from April 30 to May 3 at the Reanimation Centre, Pilar and discussed important issues facing Catholic colleges in India, as part of their triennial conference, hosted by Prof Newman Fernandes and St Xavier’s College, Mapusa.

Three major issues were concentrated on the challenge to minority rights, rights of minority communities like Catholics to run their own educational institutions in the face of recent court rulings and governmental decisions; the need focus on quality education under the guidance of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), which grades colleges in India; the concern that in the face of globalization, the culture of consumerism is overwhelming people in India and that Catholic colleges have to play the prophetic role of countering the social menace.

Mr Rui Rodrigues, the official advocate of the University of Mumbai presented the highlights of the eleven bench and the subsequent five bench judgments of the Supreme Court, their implications for the Catholic colleges and the legal avenues available to enforce the spirit of the minority rights guaranteed in Articles 29/30 of the Constitution.

A high–powered team from the NAAC, led by its director, Prof V S Prasad, reflected on issues of quality in education. They acknowledged that Catholic colleges already have a rich tradition of excellence and Dr Anthony Stella, the NAAC advisory, spoke of being in awe of Catholic colleges like Stella Maris and Loyola, Chennai. In the face of today’s society becoming knowledge–based, competitive and more democratic, the quality of institutions of higher education is crucial, in order to ensure the goals of national development, to which education has to gear itself. The quest for excellence is a continuous activity, self–regulated and inclusive of educational system/procedures, infrastructure and values – a triangle of quality. Prof Prasad also interacted with the delegates on the concerns of the latter regarding true quality education and the constraints imposed by governments and universities. The other NAAC team members explicitated on the criteria that the NAAC uses for assessment and the procedure to be adopted for the second round of accreditation.

The main theme of the conference, on the dangers of consumerism, saw excellent presentations by Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao, Archbishop of Goa, Fr Felix Wilfred of Madras University on scriptural and theological reflections and Prof Raj Ayyar of St Joseph’s, Bangalore on historical events and the present–day reality of consumerism. Each presentation was followed by animated interaction with the delegates and a group discussion. These led to a statement by the conference on the challenge of consumerism and the response of Catholic colleges. Distinguishing between responsible consumption and consumerism, the Xavier Board adopted an action plan, resolving to introduce practical measures like awareness programs, surveys to assess damage and cultural programs to highlight consumerism and to promote values the Catholics learn from the Christian scriptures.

The Xavier Board ended its deliberations by electing a new president, Fr Joseph Xavier S J of Loyola, Chennai. Archbishop Emeritus Raul Gonsalves gave an inspiring send–off message with the hope that Catholic colleges will be a strong force for change in the country.

Surojit Chatterjee