Priest hails RSS plan to open schools

(January 28, 2010) A Church official has welcomed a Hindu group’s plan to open more schools and employ young people as teachers. “Starting schools is a welcome step to remove illiteracy from the country,” says Father Kuriala Chittattukalam, secretary of the Indian Catholic bishops’ commission for education and culture. The Salesian priest was reacting to newspaper reports on January 27 that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) plans to open 100,000 schools mostly in India’s remote tribal areas. Father Kuriala says more groups should join government efforts to introduce universal education in the country. The federal Education Ministry has made education compulsory for children up to 14 years. The Church official said implementing the right education is a challenging task and NGOs, including the Church, should “move faster” to help the government. He also said the Church is aware that RSS already manages thousands of schools across India. “So, the new plan is nothing new,” he said. The priest however, wants the government to monitor “what goes on in the name of education. The qualification of teachers should be verified.” According to the newspaper report the main reason for the RSS move is to attract youths to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political arm of pro-Hindu groups, and Ram Madhav, a senior RSS official, has confirmed his group’s focus on youths. The Church manages the largest number of education institutions in India after the government. It has invested heavily in areas where the RSS is now focusing.