by John Barwa svd

Less than 1 per cent of the Indian population has access to higher education. The educational gap between rich and poor, men and women, and among marginalised classes remains huge. Institutions run by the missionaries of the Society of Jesus are among the best in the country. "Building a New India, where every child is educated, where the marginalised are empowered, where the educational system seeks to transform society, is the dream.”

Bhubaneswar (AsiaNews) – Mgr John Barwa SVD, archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, said at the National Conference on Jesuit Higher Education that Jesuit schools have a “great vision for learning, management education, training, research and consulting that help build a just and humane society.”

In his address, the prelate noted that Jesuit institutions must “carry an inspiring mission of developing competent, committed and compassionate leaders”. With this in mind, they “formulated a set of lofty values and paradigmatic principles which, among others, comprise of integrity and honesty” to impart to students.

The challenge in education, according to the archbishop, is to bridge the gap between rich and poor, as well as include women and marginalised groups of the population. In India, primary education is guaranteed to everyone by the Constitution; however, less than 1 per cent of Indians have access to higher education. Like Pope Francis, he believes that "education is a key to the mission."

Here is his speech:

Dear Friends,

I Congratulate the Jesuit Society for so many magnificent Institutions in the country including in my own City Bhubaneswar and in Odisha, Xavier University, XIMB etc. which has a great vision for learning, management education, training, research and consulting that help build a just and humane society.

Let me first reflect on what I understand by ‘strategic leadership’. Strategy has been defined variously. The one which appeals to me most is ‘a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term overall aim of an organization or a group of people.’ When leadership is referred to this idea of strategy, it acquires a significant meaning as given out by Virginia Allan, an authority on institutional leadership, “True leadership is the art of changing a group from what it is, into what it ought to be.’ Warren G. Bennis, an American scholar and pioneer in organizational leadership, expands the meaning of leadership in terms of the ‘capacity of translating a vision into reality’.

When contextualizing strategic leadership into higher education with regard to various reputed Institutions established and run by the Society of Jesus, the vision and mission are to be kept uppermost in the minds. The institutions carry an inspiring mission of developing competent, committed and compassionate leaders through education, knowledge generation and dissemination, capacity building, technology enabled learning and organizational development. Similarly, I congratulate the Society for having formulated a set of lofty values and paradigmatic principles which, among others, comprise of integrity and honesty etc., details of which I need not repeat because that would amount to carrying coal into a New Castle.

Such spectacular Institutions, make me feel greatly proud of, however, has great challenges when reflected against the backdrop of the charism of the Jesuits and the dreams of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The challenges constitute primarily in terms of widening gaps in educational access and performance between the upper and the lower echelons of our society; between the affluent and the poor; between the general population and the excluded populations, who are struggling to exist in the margins.

The disturbing queries of the day are: Are our educational Institutions have a liberating power and humanizing force? Is education used by some to dominate and enslave others? Has education the capacity of demolishing walls of separation between man and woman, between man and man? Is the education at the doors of those socially, economically, culturally, spiritually, racially left behind?

The challenge seem to me to be specially formidable when we consider ourselves located in the year 2015, a year of Consecrated Life, as a mandate of His Holiness Pope Francis for people, who thinks we are in the frontiers of mission: marginalization, culture and education. To quote His Holiness, “The pillars of education are: convey understanding, convey ways of doing things, and convey values. Faith is conveyed through these. The educator should be up to being a person who educates; he or she should consider how to proclaim Jesus Christ to a generation that is changing”. He insisted therefore: “Education today is a key, key, key mission!”

I must very humbly submit to this august gathering that the real concern for me seems to be the option for the future. When I look to the future, the elegant Institutions seem to me to be the islands of excellence, and seem to be far away from those, who are on the shores, and on the margins. Certainly, it avers in its values, the integrity and honesty, respect for individuals, ethical sensitivity etc., yet merit seems to be the boat on which the marginalized need to row and reach. Today, when caste, capital, capacity and money are merit nexus, closing its doors to the marginalized and maimed, our Institutions perhaps has the challenge of civilizational choice between the mammoth mammon and the invisible missing man for  whom  ‘God is weeping’, to borrow Pope Francis’ phrase from a different context.

The above mandate draws us to a further challenge in the context of States like Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh etc. where some of your Institutions are located. While enrolment of the children of Indigenous peoples in primary education is nearly cent percent under Right to Education (RTE), their enrolment in higher education institutions is less than 1 per cent. Similar are the figures for the lower castes. This yeoman task of ensuring access to higher education to these and reducing the existing gap in education is the most relevant challenges before us. It is for you to formulate a strategy for equity and access that is not dictated by the market alone.

I congratulate this talented group of academics and Religious and am happy to be associated with your efforts fully and whole-heartedly.

Building a New India, where every child is educated, where the marginalized are empowered, where the educational system seeks to transform society, is the dream. We are confident that with the help of God, with the dedicated service of the committed educationalists, and the collaboration of all, and through the leadership on whom people entrusted their faith, this dream will become a reality.

Thank you, God bless you

(Nirmala Carvalho contributed to this article)

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