The Catholic Church and Social Mobility - Part 2

By Philip Mudartha
Bellevision Media Network

07 Apr 2025: In the previous chapter, I posted my views on the contribution of the Catholic Church to holistic education. I maintain that educational institutions run by the Catholic Church have significantly contributed to the higher income levels of the Southern states.

 

The Catholic Schools and the Societal Change:

 

I will repeat that the significant achievement of the Church in the field of education is that it broke the monopoly of a single privileged caste and decentralized and democratized education. This made it possible for Backward castes, Dalits and Tribals not only to access education and benefit from it but earn social mobility in life. By democratizing education, the oppressed and marginalized sections of our society were empowered by the Catholic education.

 

Catholic Education and Religious Conversion: 

 

 

I reiterate that Catholic schools do not forcibly convert people to Catholicism. Thousands of non- Christian students, -Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Muslims- who have studied in these schools, continue to practise their religions.

 

These schools focus only on character formation as humane, responsible, honest, upright and God-fearing people. Respecting our nation’s religious and cultural diversity is a mindset learnt in Catholic schools.

 

Catholic schools and Nation Building:

 

Catholic institutions have trained hundreds of thousands of students who have played and play a significant role in nation-building. Several thousands of students from Indian Catholic institutions have also gone global, making India shine abroad. Wherever they are and whatever work they do, students in Catholic centres have been taught to work hard, to take orders, and to take pride in their service which they carry out with utmost dedication and commitment.

 

Challenges facing Catholic Schools:

 

When St. Francis Xavier founded St. Paul College in Goa in 1548, the aim of the catholic education was to educate society, to evangelize people and instil in them the Gospel values. After India’s independence in 1947 and Goa liberation in 1962, the aim has been to promote national integration and development. That is to promote cultures and moral values. However, in contemporary times, there is a danger that Catholic schooling may become “commercialized.”

 

Our own St. Lawrence Education Institutions have succumbed to the new culture of commercialization of basic education. There is growing demand for the tuition-paying English medium schools, from the pre-nursery to the higher secondary. People are shunning the state government aided Kannada medium schools.

 

The Belle primary school will soon close down because fewer and fewer children are being enrolled. The school has been kept alive by voluntary donations from the expatriates and guest teachers. Similar fate may soon befall the Kannada medium high school.

 

 

While the state aided Kannada medium schools are dying, the English medium school is flourishing and doing good business!

 

The contrarian viewpoint:

 

There is a contrarian view-point: Centuries ago, India had the highest GDP share in the world. There were no Catholic educational institutions then. Which education contributed to the prosperity of those times? This is a valid question.

 

 

I have copied the GDP chart from Wikipedia page on Economic History of India. Angus Maddison estimates that from 1-1000 AD, India contributed to 33% of the world’s GDP. China was the runner-up with 27%. How come? The obvious reason is the nature of economic activities of various dynastic kingdoms which ruled both the Indian sub-continent and Chinese mainland. They were feudal and agrarian societies engaging in basic food production. Besides, there were skilled artisans producing allied goods and services.

 

What do we infer?

 

 

The GDP share was in proportion to the population size. More hands mean more labour and thus more production. And what did they produce? Food and other agriculture goods. Grains such as rice, wheat, corn, ragi and millets were the main crops. Herbs, vegetables, fruits, spices, tea, coffee, sugar, opium and alcoholic drinks were the allied agricultural goods. Poultry, cattle and pigs raising, sheep herding etc. were provided for non-vegetarian food. These were highly sought after and were traded at high prices. They were the black gold and yellow gold of our times.

 

Needless to say, literacy was not the factor in enhancing earning capacity. Artisan and trade skills were. These skills were learnt at home, passed down from generations to generation. To cite an example, a potter’s son inevitably became a potter. A temple priest’s son inherited his father’s societal role and his status.

 

Macaulay education model which is followed by the Catholic schools was not around in those years. Macaulay regarded the money spent on the learning of Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian languages and maintaining these linguistic institutions as wastage.

 

India missed the Industrial Revolution Bus:

 

 

The Sanskrit and Vedic education did not promote the industrial revolution which happened in Europe. Machines and not human hands mattered in enhancing productivity. Higher population became a handicap.

 

In Indian kingdoms, the major employment to the people continued to be in the handloom industry, shipbuilding, metal works and processed food where people build these things by hand.

 

The Contribution of Catholic Church to improve standard of life