Kerala - Kochi   

Only private institutions can provide value education: Powathil

KOCHI: Only private educational institutions are able to provide education guided by moral values, Joseph Powathil, chairman of Inter-Church Council for Education, has said.

He was delivering the keynote address at a national seminar on “Educational Leadership in Communal Harmony and Peace,” organised by the Bharata Mata School of Social Work here on Friday. He said that since government institutions had to be distinctively secular, the abolition of private schools would endanger the social fabric and also the peace and harmony.Mr. Powathil said that private institutions run by religious bodies had all along fostered harmony among their alumni and also transformed their attitudes in the right direction. “They have also promoted the advancement of the backward groups through education, thus creating a sense of equality and openness,” he said.

Earlier, inaugurating the seminar, Cardinal Mar Varkey Vithayathil, Major Archbishop of the Syro Malabar Church and president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, said educational institutions run by majority and minority communities, irrespective of the ownership and community interests, should focus on protecting the rights of the socially and economically weaker sections.

“It does not mean that the constitutional rights and privileges of minorities or weaker communities should be taken away,” he said.

H said that a few of the political and religious leaders with a fundamentalist and fanatic ideology were behind all communal tensions.

“When we stand for the rights of our respective communities, we should not forget that our duty is to respect the rights of people of other communities,” he said.

Cardinal Mar Varkey Vithayathil urged the State government to take the initiative to hold discussions to solve the various issues in the education sector. Talking to presspersons on Friday, he said that the doors remained open for discussions with the government. Joseph Powathil, Chairman of Inter-Church Council for Education, said that mere discussions were not enough but it should lead to practical solutions.

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