“Encourage Value Education for the betterment of India and our People,” urges Cardinal Oswald Gracias
Bangalore 30 July, 2022 (CCBI): His Eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay and one of the topmost Consultors of Pope Francis, appealed to all to encourage and implement value education in all Catholic educational institutions for the betterment of India and of our people. Cardinal Oswald was launching the National Curriculum for Value Education (NCVE) at the National Synod of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), held at Paalanaa Bhavana, Bangalore, on Thursday 28 July, 2022.
“I earnestly urge all the dioceses, religious congregations, educational institutions and all persons engaged in the service of education to implement the National Curriculum of Value Education so as to help form our future citizens and promote genuine personal development and excellence,” said Cardinal Gracias.
Cardinal-Designate Filipe Neri Ferrão, the President of the CCBI and the Archbishop of Goa and Daman, who presided over the launching ceremony, said that the aim of the national curriculum is to inculcate in our students’ values that will help them become responsible citizens and wholesome individuals, committed to the building of a better society.
“The curriculum is inclusive of personal, moral, spiritual, emotional, behavioural, social, cultural, aesthetic and patriotic values. It lays special emphasis on constitutional values, fundamental rights, other human rights, child rights, besides treating some relevant issues of adolescents and life skills,” he added.
Cardinal-Designate Anthony Poola, the Archbishop of Hyderabad, Most Rev. George Antonysamy, Vice President, CCBI and the Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore, Most Rev. Peter Machado, Archbishop of Bangalore and Rev. Dr. Stephen Alathara, Deputy Secretary General, CCBI were present during the release ceremony.
The CCBI series of value education books includes purposeful and action-oriented teachings on each value. To aid the educator, each value is presented in a lesson plan format. The sessions have been carefully curated considering the current national and international socio-political context. Each book comes with guidelines for the educators on how to use this series meaningfully.
The National Curriculum for Value Education is published by the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India. For copies, kindly contact the CCBI General Secretariat or call Mobile: +91-9886730224.
Rev. Dr. Stephen Alathara
Deputy Secretary General