FIRST REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON CREATION OF EXCELLENCE AND CAREER GUIDANCE
IN
INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
OF THE SYRO MALABAR CHURCH
The Committee was constituted on conclusion of the
Seminar on Higher Education which was held at St. Thomas Mount, Kakkanad on the
20th of July under the beneficent direction of His Eminence the
Major Archbishop of the Syro Malbar Church. Proceedings of the Committee
received the guidance and active support of Fr. George Madathiparambil, ex-
Vicar general of the Syro Malabar eparchy in the US. Members of the Committee
comprising Senior Teachers and Administrators of institutions of higher
education held detailed discussions and shared their rich experiences in the
light of guiding principles elucidated in the course of the seminar and further
illuminated in the light of papal encyclicals and other important
pronouncements of the Church brought to its attention through the efforts of
Rev. Fr. George who moderated the discussions. The following exhortations
contained in Papal Encyclicals provided the central focus in the Committee’s
deliberations:
The Document on Education of the Second Vatican Council
proclaimed by Pope Paul the VIth on 28th October, 1965 called upon
Catholic educational institutions not to be remarkable for its numbers, but for
their pursuit of knowledge and reminded them of their duty to do all they can, “to promote for all peoples the complete
perfection of the human person”.
In a similar vein, Pope Paul II in his celebrated encyclical
“Ex Corde Ecclesiae” issued in August 1999 emphasized the mandate of Catholic
institutions to, “explore courageously the riches of revelation and of nature so
that the united endeavor of intelligence and faith will enable people to come
to the full measure of their humanity, created in the image and likeness of
God”.
The CBCI document entitled “All India Catholic Education
Policy” and issued on May 25th 2007 has also characterized education
as ‘an essential tool for the full development of individuals and empowerment
of people’. It said emphatically, “The Church sees education as an agent of
transformation”. In a striking phrase, Pope John Paul described a catholic
educational institution as embodying “the fecundity of the Christian mind in
the heart of every culture”.
Drawing inspiration from such profound and enlightening
pronouncements, the Committee set down to itself the task of attempting to
identify those areas of the Christian educational system of the Syro Malabar Church
that need ‘the united endeavor of intelligence and faith to enable people to
come to the full measure of their humanity’ and to ‘promote the complete
perfection of the human person’, as insightfully articulated in the Papal
Encyclicals and reiterated in exhortations by the CBCI. The primary focus for
the Committee therefore remained rooted in exploring to what extent the twin
pursuits of intellectual development and moral and ethical edification of the
young have been receiving the highest priority in the educational endeavors of
Catholic institutions and to recommend suitable remedial measures if, in case, it is found these
preeminent principles and objectives have not been steadily kept in view in
formulating schemes of study and in the formation of character and personality
of the young. The following analysis of the current system of education emerges
from discussions held:
1.
Faculties of critical reflection and analysis
that are fundamental in mental development and intellectual refinement remain
stunted because of over- dependence on learning by rote;
2.
Communications skills remain undeveloped as the
examination system provides no incentive or reward for acquiring such skills
and on the contrary, tend to discourage efforts in this direction;
3.
Emotional maturity and inter personal relations do
not figure in the scheme of instruction which remains confined to promoting
ruthless competition and the pursuit of individual ambition;
4.
Individual aptitudes and natural inclinations of
the young are disregarded in the obsessive preoccupation with securing their
entry into professions that promise early monetary gains;
5.
Ethical and moral orientation and adherence to
value systems are often perceived as irrelevant to education and, in adulthood,
as impediments to individual success and material progress;
6.
Social Sciences and the Humanities, as also
language studies that promote a humanistic culture and a liberal outlook are
often excluded from the scheme of studies in schools and colleges.
The Committee found after detailed
deliberations that the reasons for distortions that have crept into the
objectives and practices of higher education are a complex mixture of societal,
familial and individual value systems that have been heavily influenced by the
market economy and the prevailing consumerist culture on the one hand and the
lack of educational innovation and reform, compounded by ideological
aberrations of political leadership, on the other. While several among such
serious distortions are not immediately amenable to Church intervention,
certain important aspects of the problem have emerged from the discussions and
call for remedial action at the level of teachers and managements of higher
education. These are briefly indicated below:
(a)
The blind pursuit of the so called professional
courses stems partly from ignorance about alternative career opportunities available to the young;
(b)
Lack of guidance at the appropriate stage is
responsible for students opting for courses that are not in consonance with
their natural aptitudes and unsuited to their personal inclinations;
(c)
Graduate and post graduates often fail to secure
employment because of the neglect of language study, both at school and in
college;
(d)
Failure in competitive examinations results
mainly from neglect of newspaper reading and ignorance about current affairs;
(e)
Teachers fail to provide guidance partly from
lack of training and orientation and partly from want of incentives and
encouragement for making such extra efforts;
(f)
Teachers further fail to provide information
about career opportunities and to prepare students for competition because
teachers themselves do not read widely and follow up events regularly and studiously
with the serious intention to keep students updated about important
developments in the nation’s economy, polity, society and environment.
The Committee is of the considered view that unless remedial
measures are urgently undertaken, the current drift and lack of direction that
cripple the initiative and enthusiasm of educated youth can lead to a
disastrous situation of social instability and insecurity. Huge numbers of the
young who enter colleges every year( over 2.5 lakhs in 2012)raise the specter
of unemployment and the resultant social turmoil and instability in an era of
the affluence of the few and the scramble for glamorous possessions that
globalization and the market economy constantly and unremittingly display to
the young.
One important concern of the colleges, the parents and of
the community as a whole remains to be considered; that is the serious erosion
of ethical and moral values among the youth. The materialistic philosophy
espoused by the market economy has undoubtedly taken hold of their minds and
has altered their perspectives on values in life. Reasons are too well known to
require reiteration; what is more to the present purpose is to see if college
education can be made congenial for the growth of a positive attitude towards
religious and ethical values and to counter
the onslaught of the venality and the materialism of the market economy.
The only agents of change, if higher education is to be transformational as
envisaged by the CBCI, are teachers to whom the idealist young look up to for
inspiration and guidance in moral conflict as well as in their academic crises.
Attitudinal orientation of teachers as regards their moral responsibilities to
the young is easier said than done. The Committee is of the view that the
teaching community needs to be frequently exposed to orientation courses for
moral and ethical edification and for incentivizing active promotion of values
among students.
On the basis of its detailed discussions and studies of
related literature available on the subject of reforms in higher education, the
Committee would like to make the following suggestions and recommendations for
consideration of the Synod of the Syro Malabar Church:
1.
There is an urgent need to reorient Catholic
institutions as regards their prevailing preference for professional education
and to promote in them an appreciation of the humanizing influence of the
liberal arts and the social sciences so that young students are encouraged to
take up study of socially significant subjects and to follow their natural
aptitudes in choosing courses and
careers, rather than blindly follow popular trends or succumb to
monetary considerations;
2.
Professional help by qualified and experienced
psychological counselors be provided in every college, if possible, for help of
students to identify their aptitudes and to help tide over personal and
emotional crises;
3.
A few teachers to be trained in every
institution to study emerging career opportunities and their skill requirements
so that student talent can be meaningfully matched at the time of selection of
courses at the time of admission and for selection of careers on completion of
study
4.
Teachers selected for career guidance be paid
adequate monetary compensation and rewards for specialized training and work;
5.
Principals of all colleges may be assembled to
secure their whole hearted cooperation in improving quality of instruction and
motivation of students and asked to depute teachers in charge of career
guidance to undergo orientation camp at a central location.
6.
Leadership camps be organized for selected
students who may be expected to serve as change agents and catalysts for
promoting the pursuit of excellence in the student community at large.
The Committee earnestly believes
that these initiatives will help in bringing about an attitudinal change on the
part of all stake holders and set in motion a process of reform that can
improve the overall academic environment and infuse a culture of purposeful
education that aims at the promotion of excellence while at the same time
sustaining an unflagging faith in values.
Abraham Kurien IPS, Chairman of
the Committee. Marian College, Dated 20th
July, 2012.
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