National Council of Churches in India
Student Christian Movement of India
International Association for Promotion of the Christian Higher Education

4-6 May, 2009

Theme:  Christian Higher Education in India: Challenges and Opportunities

Bangalore Declaration

We the forty Principals and ten Senior Faculty, who represent the Principals of Christian Colleges from all over India who participated in the Conference of Principals of Christian Colleges in India held at Ecumenical Christian Centre, Whitefield, Bangalore affirm and accept that the early Christian missionaries who came to India centuries ago realized that illiteracy and social backwardness prevailing in many parts of the country could not be left unattended. Hence the educational mission undertaken by the missionaries was in the true spirit of Christian faith to develop God’s creation. We are called upon to continue this great mission and though we are small in number the only way we can make a dent in the fast expanding field of Higher Education is by setting the highest standards and by becoming centres of excellence. We reaffirm our faith in a truly Christian worldview and adopt the following:

1. We affirm our determination to empower the marginalized and to provide them with the basic educational needs and prepare them to be enlightened citizens of India and to produce graduates with professional excellence and deep Christian commitment and values. Our Mission is to reach the neglected through committed and sincere educational assistance by inculcating the right value system in the faculty and students and by restructuring the curriculum that aims at holistic excellence.

2. Our endeavour is to erase any misunderstanding that is harmful to the well being of higher education through round table meetings by defining the roles of academicians, administrators and church leaders and respecting the mission and vision of the Church that will facilitate smooth functioning of our institutions and also by redefining relationship between colleges and the Church.

3. We envision a new curriculum with courses that have thrust on overall development and personal growth of the taught.

4. We pledge to strive for excellence and take all efforts to develop Christian Higher education in India by making our Institutions autonomous and Universities.

5. To develop Christian higher education in India and to make the best use of Christian education worldwide, we strive to establish National and International linkages with related organizations and educational Institutions and as part of sharing recourses establish online library services.

6. We also affirm our determination to fight any attempt to curtail or infringe on the minority rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution of India.

7. We appreciate and accept the decision of the NCCI in setting up a National Commission for Christian Education and evolving the National Christian Educational Policy, which envisage the strong affirmation of the ecumenical relationship among the Indian Christian Higher Educational institutions.

8. We also suggest to establish an advocacy and lobbying unit to make our voice heard in the national and state policy making and curriculum designing bodies.

9. We resolve to have a National Forum consisting of twelve members, six representing educational institutions and two each representing NCCI, SCMI and IAPCHE to lead the ongoing programs aiming at developing research, administrative and teaching skills, workshops on curriculum redesigning and Faculty Enrichment Programmes.

10. We acknowledge that Church’s vision of higher education is rooted in the Gospel of God’s love and liberation of the poor  the abandoned,  the oppressed and the marginalized wrought by the death and resurrection of  Jesus Christ. We, therefore strongly feel that the vision of empowering the powerless and the marginalised is at the centre of God’s mission. We seek God’s presence and the guidance of Holy Spirit in receiving and relocating the vision that led to the establishment of institutions of higher learning. Thus we intend to strive towards establishing a new just society.

This statement is adopted by the Participants along with the representatives from the International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education, Student Christian Movement of India and National Council of Churches in India at Whitefield, Bangalore, on 06 May 2009.

On behalf of the Participants and Organisers

Samuel Jayakumar           Bishop D.K. Sahu              J. Dinakarlal 
General Secretary            General Secretary            Director 
SCMI                             NCCI                             IAPCHE, Asia-Oceania