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Dehradun, October 25
The two-day 7th annual general body meeting of
Catholic Higher Education Society (CHES) concluded at St. George’s College,
Mussoorie, today. The meeting was organised by Patrician College of Education,
Dehradun.
The meeting was attended by participants from Catholic colleges of UP,
Uttrakhand and Rajasthan as these three states came under the Archdiocese of
Agra.
Brother T. Sebastian, organising secretary, and manager of Patrician College
of Education, welcomed the participants and Rev. Jose Manjiyil, secretary, CHES,
introduced the dignitaries of the meeting. Vinod Kumar Jain, Vice Chancellor,
Doon University, was the chief guest for the occasion.
Albert D’Souza, Archbishop of Agra and chairman of CHES, in his inaugural
address, introduced the theme of the meeting, namely “Higher Education for
Social Change and making Higher Education Affordable.”
“Education, being a selfless service of the Church, cannot continue in
today’s scenario where education has been commercialised by business
enterprises. The key word was ‘smart education.’ In a situation, formation of
wisdom and moral values are not taken care, which will lead to a breakdown of
traditions, cultures and values that are upheld by society,” he said. The
Archbishop also mentioned that the large section of society that lived under
impoverished, deprived and marginalised conditions and the physically challenged
had no access to quality education, leave alone higher education.
VK Jain, chief guest, in his keynote address, apprised the participants about
the need to bring about social equity, knowledge generation and social
empowerment through higher education.
Jain also chaired the interactive session where the participants posed many
questions to him concerning higher education and he was able to give not only
the required response but also valuable suggestions.
Other dignitaries who addressed the meeting were Bishop I. Fernandes of
Allahabad, and Bishop Francis Khalist of Meerut.
