Report of the India Chapter Meeting at Bishop Heber College,Trichy - 3-4 November 2006
At the outset I must thank the director, Prof. D. Swamiraj and the Principal, Dr. Marcus Boominathan, Bishop Heber College, Trichy for the meticulous planning and conduct of the CUAC India Chapter meeting of the Principals. The theme of the meeting “Equity vis-à-vis Quality” was timely and very relevant in the Indian context when the nation is facing the questions of ‘reservations’ and ‘creamy layers’. The speakers, Christian Stalwarts in Higher Education, challenged the mediocrity into which Christian institutions seem to have settled and gave a clarion call to collaborate and promote quality with equity. Dr. Mani Jacob, General Secretary of AIACHE inaugurated the seminar. In his keynote address he highlighted the changes in learning styles brought about by interactive, student-centred and IT-based learning and asked us to rethink the Christian objectives in providing access to the poor and marginalized Christians, and to develop Servant Leaders drawing inspiration from the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
“Equity is not an option but an obligation,” said Fr. S. John Britto, former Principal of St. Joseph’s College. He questioned the Christian institutions as to what their identity and specific roles were. Globalization seemed to have alienated the poor depriving them of knowledge as a resource – renewable and easily transported. Students from the downtrodden strata of society must be accepted as they are, he said, and then supported with financial and academic resources encouraging them to attain their full potential. Dr. Manikam, former Head of the School of Historical Studies, Madurai Kamaraj University, said that Christian colleges in their quest to educate and empower should not perpetrate gross social injustice and should not duplicate what is be done by other institutions. Our admissions policy should favour the poor and marginalized members of society. He talked about the need for value-education and clarified that a combination of equity and quality would not bring down the educational standard of a college. He defined the role of faculty in Christian colleges as leaders of change with ourage and commitment to work for the common good.
Dr. M. Victor Anthuvan of Loyola College confronted us with “Where are our students?” Why no leaders in industry, politics, agriculture, science and technology?” He challenged the Christian institutions to revamp their systems to produce leaders with values effecting total transformation of the country. He said, with the right kind of education in Christian institutions we need to be able to influence these significant indicators of progress of our country. Our education seemed useful only to the rich and the powerful – ‘Pilot, Annais, Caiphas and the Sadducees’ not the Samaritans’ (the dalits). Excellence, he said, is bringing out the best in oneself. We have to lose the ‘mission compound mentality’ and motivate our students to reach out to the community at large. The meeting was attended by about 25 principals or their representatives mainly from Christian colleges in the South – Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu. The members thoroughly appreciated the theme and the way the venerable speakers handled it.
(Reported by Nirmala Jeyaraj, Principal, Lady Doak College).
Report of a Meeting of CUAC Colleges and Universities in Britain in November 2006
Two members of the Board (Professor Michael Wright and Bishop Martin Wharton) met with representatives from almost all the Anglican Universities and Colleges in England in November 2006. The purpose of the meeting was to consult together about the formation of a new British Chapter of CUAC. To this end a small steering group was established consisting of: Prof. Muriel Robinson, Bishop Grosseteste University College, Lincoln (Convenor); Dr. Ruth Ackroyd, University of Chester; Canon Dr. Joe Cassidy, St. Chad’s College-Durham University; Dr. Jeremy Law, Chaplain of Canterbury Christ Church University; The Revd. Hugh Shilson Thomas, Church of England Board of Education.
The group will bring proposals to a meeting of representatives of all the British Colleges and Universities on 29th June
2007 in London. The aims of the British Chapter (which have yet to be accepted) could be:
-To promote the development and co-operation of Anglican Colleges and Universities in Great Britain.
-To actively encourage, support and promote the Anglican identity of member Colleges and Universities in Britain.
-To actively encourage cross cultural exchanges and visits between the member Colleges and Uuniversities of CUAC.
-To develop opportunities for Service Learning in British Colleges and Universities.
Basic details of the CUAC Triennial Conference in Hong Kong in 2008 have been circulated, so that 2008 budgets can
be prepared in light of the hoped for level of participation from the British Colleges and Universities (Reported by The
Rt. Rev. Martin Wharton, Diocese of Newcastle).
