Montfort Brothers in India have drafted an education charter to fulfill their founder’s vision for an enlightened society across the world.

Top management personnel from seven Montfort provinces in India as well as about 200 teachers of Montfort institutions attended the national conference that prepared the “Montfortian Education Charter for 21st Century.”

Andhra Pradesh’s Education Minister Manikya Vara Prasad opened the three-day conference on Dec. 27 in Hyderabad lauding the Brothers for their educational service.

“I send two of my children to Montfortian Schools in spite of so many options for me because I want them to live a wholesome life,” he said.

Brother K. M. Joseph, national president of Montfort Brothers in India, said the charter will be applicable in 34 countries across the world where the Brothers work.

The charter would have final approval at a Montfort general council in Rome in the second week of February, Brother Joseph said adding the charter is envisaged as a tool for Montfort educational institutions across the world, not as global educational charter for the Catholic Church.

He said the Indian Brothers took the lead because “we are the most vibrant group” in the congregation with European membership “dying out” and Africans “just catching up.”

Indians account for some 600 of the 1,200 Montfort Brothers in the world. “We are roughly half, but the other half is spread across several nations and is aged,” Brother Joseph explained the reasons for the Indian initiative.

Subha Rao, former vice chancellor of Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University, who addressed the gathering, saying it was “heartening to see Indians taking global initiatives.” He also pointed to the “huge challenges and opportunities” ahead.

Montfort Brother M. A. George, national coordinator of the conference, said the Brothers began to think of global charter because they wish to “remain in the forefront of youth formation” challenging the “unprecedented changes taking place in the global scenario.”

The charter calls for a paradigm shift in the content and methodology of education, links up with educational technology, managerial competence and leadership initiatives for a fast changing world, Brother George said.

It wants to stress Bible values in the face of innumerable counter forces that affect the evolution of a just society. The charter also demands equal opportunity for all, including those with physical and social disabilities, Brother George said.

The charter rooted in Montfortian legacy, if forward looking and can “empower its adherents to respond dynamically to the global opportunities,” he added.

The Montfort education service is 300 years old and has faced many challenges in its history, starting with the Industrial Revolution, French Revolution and colonial aberrations, said Montfort Brother Mani Mekkunnel, national secretary of Conference of Religious India.

He said Brothers in India have missions in the Pacific and African regions. The new charter would also have ways to respond to the Indian educational challenges, Brother Mekkunnel added.

The Society of Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel that manages institutions for “total education,” was found by St. Louis Marie De Montfort in France in 1705.

Source: UCAN

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