The matter of universal education has weighed heavily on my heart. My own grandfather from my father’s side was well known for brahmanical teachings which he applied while raising his sons to become well rounded individuals. He was a poor priest who through hard discipline, well structured education, eating  healthy diet and regular sporting activities raised six boys who all went to do very well in their lives. That is what Educations is about. Well grounded education related to lives of individuals has the power to shape lives and transform societies.  However, this essential outcome of Education got completely lost once the region gained independence from colonialism.

Catholic Education System has done well throughout the Indian Subcontinent and even in Pakistan it is highly acknowledged by the wealthy Muslims. However, when we look at Protestant Evangelical movement it has miserably failed in the area of educating its members. It is one of the reasons for persistent poverty of the vast majority Christians.

The entire subcontinent believes that the only reason we get educated is to get a job and have little understanding of the life transforming work of Education that starts from the moment a baby is born. There are only a few Protestant schools which have done well in India. Don Bosco and Assembly of God are well regarded in Kolkata which is the capital city of my state. But apart from a handful of these most Christians are perceived by others suffering from persistent poverty. However, in reality the true gospel blesses people in every area of their lives enabling one to enjoy the joy of Salvation in this life itself.

Secondly, India together with other countries in the region has failed miserably in putting together a primary school curriculum which assigns the school system to raise citizens of tomorrow. Unless this is done our children will always suffer.

I was once invited to speak and participate in All India School Principals meet in New Delhi organized by NCERT(National Council of Education Research and Training)  where I discovered that in spite of all the research work undertaken by the educational board it has never really considered the urgency of  formulating at ground level  a common picture of what a child should be able to perform for success in daily living. They have come up with the curriculum; which is mapping out what children should learn in maths, languages, science and social sciences though. However, these too are very stagnant for lack of ongoing research on various ways of implementing in the classroom. What this curriculum lacks is the Hidden Curriculum which is most essential. It fails to touch on the subject of learning outcomes – which is, what should our children become as individuals once they complete their primary school years? What qualities should our children have in a democratic country to shoulder the responsibility of living in a free society?

As believers we have a great part to play. This is where the teachings of our Lord Jesus come into huge play. Our Lord was an amazing teacher and his teaching methodology can never go outdated. I was most privileged to train teachers in various parts of India on teaching methodology taken out of the New Testament and imparting in various Christian and non Christian schools. This was extraordinarily empowering for the whole school community. This was the very framework for whole community transformation. I saw the spark and I continue to pray that the Lord will use me to share those teaching/learning principles to ignite the fire for social and lifelong transformation once he allows the season to blossom in my life once again.

As Christians it is imperative that all saints in our congregation are literate and are positive about reading the Bible in order to apply in their daily lives. As we can see relying on one pastor does not raise a vibrant church or a vibrant community. One of the tools of reviving our churches is to educate each and every person in our church so that they become fully functioning members in the Body.

THE GOOD NEWS TRANSFORMS OUR LIVES AND WE ARE NEVER POOR AS WE BECOME SPIRITUALLY ENRICHED