Indian Jesuit college urged to upgrade to a university

(January 23, 2012) The chief minister of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal has invited a Jesuit-run college to upgrade to the status of a university and “cross boundaries of the world” in imparting education to all. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured all help toward the expansion of the St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata, the state capital. “I want to see St. Xavier’s as the first autonomous university of the state,” Banerjee said during the convocation and valedictory program of the college on Friday. Addressing a 1800-strong audience of students who were graduating in different subjects, she invited the vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta, under which the Jesuit college awards degrees, to initiate the process of upgrading the status of the college. “Bengal should be number one in the field of education in the country and I believe the state can show the way to the world regarding excellence in education,” she said. The head of the state government said that she was studying the possibilities of allotting land for the expansion of the college and will work in consultation with its Principal Father John Felix Raj. The 151-year-college, which was founded by Belgian Jesuits, offers 16 graduate and 5 post-graduate courses to some 6,800 students on its rolls. In 2006 Calcutta University granted St. Xavier’s College the autonomy to formulate its own syllabus and evaluation system.