by Nirmala Carvalho

India invests heavily in primary education but little goes to Christian schools which are well represented in rural areas. Under-funding could lead to decline in rural education. Bishop of Mananthavady calls for subcommittees to raise funds.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) – “Christian schools are going through a financial crisis” and lack the funds necessary to develop and modernise their structures, said Mgr Jose Porunnedom, bishop of the diocese of Mananthavady, as he criticised the lack of public support as well private funding for Church-run educational institutions.

The crisis came to a head when financial responsibility of schools went to corporate agencies which interfered with foreign funding. The result was that foreign donors simply walked away. Compounding the financial crunch, non-Christian communities from which a majority of the students come from proved unwilling to provide financial assistance for the schools' development.

Schools under Christian management have also not benefited from a government programme called Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (a flagship programme designed to universalise education for 6 to 14-year-old pupils). Funds are scarce even for basic upkeep of school buildings despite a government order to do upgrade structure by 2008.

The solution Mgr Porunnedom envisages includes setting up subcommittees headed by Church vicars to develop projects and raise funds from public institutions, lawmakers and families of those who benefit from a Catholic school education.

The bishop also urged the diocese school managers to follow the directive of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India not to take donations from those who seek in exchange admission and appointments.

Fr Babu Joseph, spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference, told AsiaNews that “the financial crisis of [Christian] schools in Kerala and other states is a consequence of the government decision to slash or not review its grant policy in view of rising costs. Some states also don’t want to fill vacancies in rural Christian schools. One direct result of this will be a serious set back in rural areas where Christian schools operate. States should first fund schools that are doing well rather than those that have poor results.”

According to official sources, in the diocese of Mananthavady alone the Church runs 47 primary schools, 21 middle schools, 19 higher secondary (high school) schools and 7 graduation schools as well as 5 technical institutes.

• india
• kerala
• mananthavady
• christian
• schools
• catholic
• bishops
• fr
• babu
• joseph
• jose
• porunnedom
• funding