South Asian Catholic colleges team up to educate poor youths

Catholic colleges from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka plan to work together to educate poor disadvantaged youths in the region.

The venture is part of a three-year project initiated by the International Federation of Catholic Universities called "Continuing Education of Disadvantaged Adolescents”.

The research partners are Salesian College, Siliguri; Stella Maris College, Chennai; Christ University, Bengaluru — all in India; Notre Dame University in Dhaka, Bangladesh; and Aquinas University in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

"We need to study how to bridge the gap of continuing education for the dropouts,” George Thadathil, the principal of Salesian College was quoted as saying in the report.

The joint project  was launched officially by the IFCU Deputy Secretary General Dr. Barnabe D’Souza on 21st October 2016.

“This international research could build bridge between what happens with government policy and ground reality,” says Dr  D’Souza the first Indian to occupy the post of 92 year old global body which has more than 1,200 universities under it in all five continents.

The research team aims to work with services offered by the state, local administration and NGOs for greater sustainability after the initial three years, it said. (UCAN)