DoC / MCC ETRI / 2008 / 01

26  June  2008

Dear Rev. Fathers / Rev. Sisters / Headmasters, Teachers and Students of the Sunday School,

Prayerful Greetings from the Department of Catechesis, MCC-ETRI!

As you all know, I am appointed as the Director of Catechesis of MCC ETRI on 25 March 2008 by His Excellency Bishop Jacob Mar Barnabas, the Apostolic Visitator. As I am placed in Baroda, where I have been entrusted with the responsibility of building up a Malankara community, the Department of Catechesis of our Church in ETRI will function here at my residence till further arrangement.

From the footprints left behind by those who have strived hard for the process of Catechesis in the ETRI, we have to leap forward to accomplish the dream of unified Catechesis in the ETRI.  I do acknowledge the Herculean task, even to the extent of preparing separate Text books, taken up by our dearest Berchmans Achan to facilitate the Catechism classes in the ETRI. Till the publication of the new Sunday School texts by the Malankara Catholic Bishop’s Synod, these texts were widely used across ETRI. In a special way I thank wholeheartedly Berchmans Achan and all other priests who have worked hard, together with him, to build up Sunday Schools in different Centres of ETRI.

After taking up the responsibility, as the Director of Catechesis, I have visited the major Centres of Bahyakerala Mission (ETRI) and have tried my level best to meet the Headmasters of the Sunday School in person.   I have got constructive responses from Pune, Banglore, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai regions.  A proposal for the Academic year 2008-’09 was prepared in accordance with the discussions held with the Sunday School Headmasters and the Members of Sunday School Associations in different Zones of ETRI and analyzed in the Priests’ Meet of the Northern and Southern Regions of ETRI held under the chairmanship of H.E. Bishop Jacob Mar Barnabas in the first and second weeks of this month.   Taking into consideration the diverse situation in different Centres of ETRI, we have arrived into the following decisions for the Academic year 2008-’09:

01. Academic year

• Semester System – to be divided into two semesters.
• First Semester – begins on 2^nd Sunday of July – ends on 4^th Sunday of November. Second Semester – begins on 1^st Sunday of December – ends on 4^th Sunday of June. 1^st Semester exam on 4^th Sunday of November and 2^nd Semester exam on 1^st Sunday of July.
• Holidays – two months of holidays according to the situation of the unit.
• Class Roll – should be rearranged according to the students’ respective classes in the School – exceptions are allowed in the new-begun missions, but at the cost of not considering them for the merit.

02. Examinations

• Semester Exams – Centralized Exam at the end of each Semester.
• Centralized Exam – on the same day, at the same time in all the units of ETRI – question papers set from the centre – evaluation at the central level from Classes IV to X – results at the central, regional, zonal and parish level.
• Internal Assessment – at the parish level taking into consideration attendance, active participation in liturgy and initiatives to Christian witness.
• Syllabus – all lessons inclusive of Liturgical hymns, Bible verses and Christian witness – but will be divided into two according to the Semesters – a few hymns can be made optional in the beginning.
• Question Pattern – to be set and analyzed with expertise – to be reviewed by the experienced – to be sent, well in advance before the exams, to the students.
• Question Bank – to be prepared in accordance with the Question Pattern of each class – reference to the answers will be given together with the questions – all questions (except one-word-type, fill in the blanks, and match the following) will be from the Question Bank.

03. General Discipline

• Registration – students have to register in the respective Units and at the Centre through a Registration form – they will be provided with a Registration Number, which will be used as a reference number all through their Sunday School years.
• Survey Form – has to be filled in and sent to the Centre by the Headmaster of each Sunday School every year, in order to collect the details of teachers and number of students in each class.
• Attendance Register – every Sunday, except on two months holidays, is considered as a working day for the Sunday School.  Attendance, of both the students and teachers, should be marked every Sunday.  If it happens to be a forced holiday on a particular Sunday, even if with a valid reason, it has to be noted in the Register – attendance details of the students and teachers has to be sent to the Centre at the end of each Semester.
• Note Book – should be made compulsory for the students to write down the answers of questions in the Question Bank – to be considered for parish level evaluation.
• Promotion – writing the exam is a must – repeat the exam in case one fails – a third chance also is given in case of weak students.

04. Administrative Structure

• Sunday School Zones – ETRI Units grouped into four Zones
• Delhi Zone – Saket, Mayur Vihar, Dilshad Garden, Okhla, West Delhi, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Bhopal, Jaipur, Ludhiana
• Mumbai Zone – Sakinaka, Borivili, Malad, Ulhasnagar, Thane, Vikhroli, Kharghar, BARC, Vasai, Boisar
• Pune Zone – Kirkee, Warje Malwadi, Pune Central, Vadagaonsseri, Kalewadi, Dehu Road
• New Zone - Mathikere, Hennur, SingaSandra, Chennai, Hyderabad, Baroda, Surat, Calcutta, Nasik, Aurangabad, Bhilai
• Central level – Bishop, Central Director, Regional Directors, Regional Animators, Zonal Directors, Zonal Animators, Zonal Inspectors, Representatives from the Headmasters, Representatives from the Rev. sisters, Experts from the field and Experienced from the Department
• Zonal level – Zonal directors, Zonal Animators, Zonal Inspectors, Headmaster and one Staff representative from each unit – an executive body elected from the Headmasters and the Staff representatives as President, Vice President, Secretary, Joint Secretary and Treasurer

05. Adult Catechesis

• Correspondence Course – for Catechism Teachers, Youth and Parents – certificates will be issued for those who successfully complete the course - compulsory for the Catechism Teachers and the Aspiring Teachers
• Bodhanam – a special programme taken up by the Priests to catechize the whole community

06. Conscientisation of Parents

• Visits – of the units by the Central, Regional or Zonal Directors and Animators of the Department – a power point presentation conducted by a Catechism Team comprising the Youth.
• Sunday School Day – celebration in a meaningful and inspiring way – first Sunday of August is the Malankara Catholic Sunday School Day.
• Priests-in-Charge – through their timely intervention

07. Awards and Honours

• Certificate for Class X – signed by the Bishop and Catechism Director will be issued to each student after the successful completion of Class X.   Such certificate will be made mandatory, in the near future, even for the purpose of marriage, higher studies and other recommendations on behalf of the Church.   Eventually, if possible, certificates can be issued in Class XII and can be made mandatory.
• Certificate of Merit – will be awarded for those who bag First, Second and Third places at the Central, Zonal and Parish level.
• Certificate of Attendance – will be given to each teacher who attends the Seminars conducted at the Zonal or Regional level.
• Honours – those who have dedicated their lives for teaching Catechism will be specially honoured in an appropriate occasion.

08. Provisional Grade System

Marks (in %) Grade

90 and above                                      A⁺

80 and above                                      A

70 and above                                      B⁺

60 and above                                      B

50 and above                                      C⁺

40 and above                                      C

35 and above                                      D⁺

30 and above                                      D

29 and below                                      E

• Those who have received atleast C Grade (ie. 40% and above) will be promoted to the Higher Class without repeat exams.
• 10% marks will be provided extra at the unit level for the Internal assessment – Grades should be calculated accordingly at the unit level.

09. Sunday School Fund

• There should be funds in the Central, Zonal and Parish level for catechesis – Sunday School Day collection is divided between Centre, Zone and Parish – contribution from the parishes - donation from the well wishers

These decisions have taken in order to implement it on an experimental basis for the present academic year. We shall go for a detailed analysis of these at a gathering at the end of the Second Semester. Let us have a close observation of the impact and repercussion of its implementation all through this academic year. Please feel free to share with me the strength and concerns of these decisions and your valuable suggestions for the next year.

 Sunday School Associations in different Zones of ETRI will continue to function facilitating the purpose of the Department of Catechesis.  The Centre will function in close association with the Zonal arrangements guided by the Zonal Directors. The present Zonal Directors are Rev Fr Ani Zacharia oic – Mumbai, Rev Fr Varghese Vinayanand oic – Delhi, Rev Fr Joseph Menakaleeckal oic – Pune and Rev Fr Mathew Perumbillikunnel – New Zone.

A CD comprising all the liturgical hymns in the Catechism texts is being prepared in view of teaching the students effectively. Preparation of the Syllabus, Question pattern and Question Bank is in progress. The Text books of Catechism are available directly from Santhinilayam, Thiruvalla. The contact number is 0469 2630 852. I shall help you in person if you find any difficulty in this regard.

You will appreciate that our Church in ETRI is in the process of revitalization and the prime area where we have to concentrate, as desired by His Excellency, is on proper faith formation through effective catechesis. I would, therefore, request you and earnestly solicit your sincere and whole-hearted support and co-operation in implementing these directives in its right spirits so that we will be able to come up with the expectations of the Church in ETRI.

Wishing you a blessed and fruitful new Academic year,

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Fr. Varghese Valikkodath

DIRECTOR