“I have an obligation to all peoples, to the civilized and the simple, to the educated and to the ignorant” (Romans 1:14).
“Bear with one another, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together” (Ephesians 4:2-3).
“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” (CBCI 2006, 10.6).
“Both diocesan and the religious personnel involved in institutions should adopt a policy in favour of the poor and the marginalized, particularly in matters of education and vocational training centres, as a sign of preferential option for the poor and marginalized” (CBCI 2002, II.C.5).
“Networking systems will have to be established between technical education and industry, R&D organizations, programmes of rural and community development, and with other sectors of education with complementary characteristics” (National Policy on Education, 1986, 6.12 (ix)).
“The introduction of systematic, well-planned and rigorously implemented programmes of vocational education is crucial in the proposed educational reorganization. These elements are meant to enhance individual employability, to reduce the mis-match between the demand and supply of skilled manpower, and to provide an alternative for those pursuing higher education without particular interest or purpose” (National Policy on Education, 1986, 5.16).

6.1

Throughout human history, many changes have come about through a new vision, a changed perspective and a fresh approach to what existed earlier. This is equally true in the realm of scientific innovations, of economic or political reforms or in the spiritual realm. These are created by evolving a new lens, new ways of seeing. These are called paradigm shifts. Our Christian faith is an outstanding example of such a paradigm shift, and Jesus Christ is recognized in history as bringing about such a paradigm shift in human thinking. In the very changed circumstances of today and the tomorrow ahead of us, certain paradigm shifts are necessary to make our education fulfil its mission of bringing about both personal and societal transformation.

6.2

We resolutely and effectively focus our priorities—our personnel, finances and institutions—on the education of Catholics/Christians and the marginalized, especially the Dalits, Tribals and women. This leads us to rethink and reorient our admission and financial policies, and even our infrastructure and pedagogy.1 We also make greater efforts than hitherto to promote literacy for all, the universalisation of free and compulsory elementary education, various forms of non-formal education, and advocacy and lobbying in favour of the marginalised. And we privilege the type of education that meets today’s crucial challenges and leads to social transformation.

(1) When the preferential option for the poorest is at the centre of the educational programme, the best resources and most qualified persons are initially placed at the service of the least, without in this way excluding those who have less difficulties and shortages. This is the meaning of evangelical inclusion, so distant from the logic of the world. The Church does, in fact, mean to offer its educational service in the first place to “those who are poor in the goods of this world or who are deprived of the assistance and affection of a family or who are strangers to the gift of Faith. Unjust situations often make it difficult to implement this choice. Sometimes, however, it is Catholic educational institutions themselves that have strayed from such a preferential option; which characterized the beginning of the majority of institutes of consecrated life devoted to teaching” (Consecrated Persons and their Mission in Schools, 2002, 70).

“Access to education especially for the poor is a commitment assumed at different levels by Catholic educational institutions. This requires arranging educational activity to suit the least, no matter what the social status of the pupils present in the scholastic institution. This involves, among other things, proposing the contents of the social doctrine of the Church through educational projects and requires checking the profile that the school foresees for its students. If a school listens to the poorest people and arranges itself to suit them, it will be able to interpret the subjects at the service of life, and avail of their contents in relation to the global growth of people” (Consecrated Persons and their Mission in Schools, 2002, 72).

6.3	We network with others: Providing Education For All is both our national and international commitment. Without it, the majority of our people will continue to remain marginalized. Educating India is a huge national task, in which we want to actively participate. Therefore net-working is a necessity. The paradigm shift will mean linking with other agencies, including the Government agencies.We will aim to build models, using both our commitment and our competences. Applications of psychology, learning theories and of different technologies will call for inter-disciplinary collaboration. Such a paradigm shift will multiply our present reach and outputs manifold.
6.4	We provide higher levels of competence to the rural youth: Unemployment is still a major problem in India while more and more jobs requiring technical skills are being created. Provision of vocational and technical courses, especially for our priority groups, in the rural sector, both at the secondary and also at the tertiary levels, is another area for a paradigm shift. These could range from provision of courses in community colleges, or ITI institutions or professional courses at tertiary levels. We plan to establish several rural professional institutions to make our rural youth market-ready with skills and updated competences. The acquisition of competences in several fields of engineering, ICT, marketing, agro-processing, bio-technology, watershed management, product value addition and other management fields and leadership development will make the rural youth contribute both to self-empowerment and to the Gross National Product. The gross abuse of they being denied full share for the products of their labour will cease. This will also prevent them from the need to rush to the urban centres in search of a better life and living.
6.5	We articulate a curriculum to maintain environmental hygiene and good social manners. This must start in the early stages of school and go up to the college as well so as to make the young socially sensitive and responsible. For a nation that is rapidly moving from a developing to a developed nation we are faced with gross insensitivity to basic hygiene, environment cleanliness, good social etiquette and polite behaviour. Through a systematic and sustained effort, we would contribute to evolve a new model of social relations to replace the present very unacceptable condition and behaviour patterns.
6.6	We articulate and transact a curriculum to develop life skills. We formulate a curriculum to enable the students to develop life skills, at the school and college levels. This curriculum can be based on the following ten life skills that WHO has identified as very relevant for the youth of today, namely, problem solving skills and decision making skills, critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills, effective communication skills, interpersonal relationship skills, self-awareness skills, empathy building skills, advocacy skills, skills to cope with emotions and skills to cope with stress.
6.7	We use e-learning for better learning and wider outreach: Today, more and more learning is taking place, besides and beyond the normal classroom set-up where face to face teaching is done. E-learning has established firm roots worldwide and its scope and use are rapidly expanding in India as well. We take the initiative to introduce e-learning, not only in our urban schools but give the same stress to do so in our rural institutions, wherever possible, in order to fulfil our mission of transformation through provision of education of quality. E-learning has many applications: for instance, for the updating of teacher competence and ongoing training; for teaching regular subjects, where the e-learning addition will greatly enhance understanding and produce higher levels of achievement, whether we use it for general education, for health education, for civic education, and for other purposes. This tool can be a powerful means for the empowerment of the village persons, to enhance the skill and output of farmers using technology, or for the education and training of those elected to the Panchayati Raj and women in general, and other people in similar contexts. More and more of educational programmes, based on prescribed courses and curricula, are being digitalized. The use of these resources will provide easy outreach to the presently un-reached. We also will multiply our provision by using the courses and programmes offered through Open Distance Learning System (ODLS) offered through IGNOU, NIOS and state level Open Universities and Schools. “Educational technology will be employed in the spread of useful information, the training and re-training of teachers, to improve quality, sharpen awareness of art and culture, inculcate abiding values, etc., both in the formal and non-formal sectors. Maximum use will be made of the available infrastructure. In villages without electricity, batteries or solar packs will be used to run the programme” (National Policy on Education, 1986, 8.11).
6.8	We develop enlightened and proactive citizens and contribute to nation-building through a curriculum of social sensitisation. Education often lays stress only on the rights of the individual but fails to emphasise one’s duties, especially to society. We now accept the awakening of social consciousness as our educational responsibility. A good education must not only provide competences and a passport to good living and success, but also enable the person to contribute to the wellness of society.