EDUCATION SYSTEM

In a nut shell, one can enumerate that the Church in the Diocese of Jamshedpur runs 2 Postgraduate Colleges, 14 Junior Colleges, 33 Hindi-medium and English-medium High Schools, 59 Primary/Middle Schools, 15 Social Service Organizations, and 27 Hospitals, Dispensaries and Mobile Units. These are not mere statistics that is being put forward but a curtain raiser to the way our Education System, Health Care, and Social Action has changed the complexion of the situation in the State of Jharkhand.

The needs of a growing city were met by opening any number of cradles for education. The quality education that was given to our children made a difference as they became agents of social change. Whether it was a school in the city or rural area, whether it was in English medium or the vernacular, it was our schools that caught the attention of people.

Being an industrial city, it was a felt-need to organize labour, and then came about the beginning of XLRI (Xavier Labour Relations Institute) which diversified itself into Management, and is the oldest B-School in the country, imparting to students not only the quest for excellence but also instilling in them the desire to serve: the joy of giving!

It was felt that the Church was not only for making the rich richer but needed to be a bridge between the rich and the poor, to be the voice of the voiceless, and so this brought about the establishment of XITE (Xavier Institute Tribal Education). Yes, living in Jharkhand, on tribal land, it was paramount that we did more than lip service for the welfare of the tribal people. XITE was our answer. With the Brand name of Xavier, our tribal students, too – women and men - could be prepared to compete with the rest and with the best, and find a placement in XLRI.

With so many quality schools mushrooming, the need for a College for Teacher Education was met with the starting of Loyola College of Education.

With so many hospitals and health centres also surfacing, came the need to have a nursing school – the Jeevan Jyoti Nursing School. In many ways, the Church over the years has been an answer for quality education and nursing care.

The special charism of the Church was that it was able to change, adapt, and rise to the challenge of education for all – the rich and the poor, to all classes, with a special emphasis on the girl’s all round education. To enable our students – both boys and girls – to cope with their studies, there arose the need to establish hostels that not only accompanied them through their academic career but also provided them with values that would make them responsible and accountable.

The Church needed to focus on the youth who were gradually alienating themselves from the Church. To address this trend in the Church came such organizations as JYOTI (Jamshedpur’s Youth of Tomorrow’s India) and DOSTI; to rally the unorganized youth of the rural areas came JUVA JUMUR; while right in the heart of the city, the St. Joseph Welfare Centre, Golmuri that caters to the needs of the city’s youth.

Of late, the Church’s attention has turned to enable our University students to play a lead role or support role. There in the heart of Ho land we have TRTC (Tribal Research and Training Centre) - whose vision is to reach out to the village youth to enable them to organize themselves as Self Help Groups and a Community College that will enable the youth to leave with skills that could make them more marketable even though they may not have a school leaving certificate.

St. Joseph’s Welfare Centre in Golmuri has offered livelihood-related and job-oriented training, especially for school dropouts. It also attempted to take up the concept of Community College but for want of space in the Welfare Centre, has moved to Mango, where it is felt they will have ample place to grow and will be closer to the people that need their expertise.