For the common good” “

“The time has come to work to ensure that the educational provision of Catholic schools be increasingly appreciated as a culturally proficient and valuable service for all pupils, where the person of each is fostered and helped to express itself fully in dialogue and in the encounter with others”, declared Msgr. CESARE NOSIGLIA , bishop of Vicenza and delegate of the CCEE (Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences) for catechesis, schools and universities. Msgr. Nosiglia was speaking in Rome on 17 October, at a seminar of European bishops responsible for Catholic schools and representatives of the European Committee for Catholic Education. An appeal for Catholic schools to “reposition themselves”, bearing in mind the “changes of higher education in the contemporary world” and the “needs of students”, who “must plan their own future”, was made by Msgr. GUY-RÉAL THIVIERGE , general secretary of the IFCU (International Federation of Catholic Universities). Below a résumé of his address. A “PRIVATE GOOD”? The phenomenon that has revolutionized higher studies was “the spreading to the masses of demand for higher education at all levels”: an “unprecedented world phenomenon that has severely put to the test all systems of education and government”, and changed the way itself in which funds are allocated. In this way, “the traditional idea of higher education conceived as a common good of society has gradually given way to a concept of post-secondary education conceived as a private good”. On the contrary – argued Thivierge – “private higher education must be considered a public good”, seeing that it plays a “role” within the national educational system and is “at the service of the general interest”. “QUALITY”, “TRANSPARENCY” AND “FORMATION”. “Guaranteeing quality” through “more rigorous controls”, ensuring “transparency” and acting at the level of personal formation: these – said Msgr. Thivierge – are the priority tasks of Catholic universities in Europe, at a time when the very “status” of teachers is being placed in discussion by a type of “university administration” in which “the traditional independence of professors has virtually disappeared”. New phenomena such as the university “without frontiers” or “on line” academic teaching, he said, call in question “the vision of the person and the values of which he is the bearer: in this context, “the role of the Church in education continues to be one of great importance”. “CULTURE OF RESPONSIBILITY” AND “ETHICAL COURAGE”. “Christian educators have the duty to promote the existence of Christianity as civilization and as culture”. Thivierge appealed for a transition “from a culture of bureaucratic responsibility to one of professional responsibility”, thanks to properly motivated teachers and specific programmes of formation capable of developing the “ethical courage” that “derives from a strong and mature personal and professional option”, able to go beyond a certain kind of traditional view of education or religious information”. For European Catholic universities, concluded Thivierge, this implies shifting “from a culture of disenchantment to a culture of hope”, capable of opposing “counter-values” such as “the dictatorship of relativism, the prevalence of individualism and the weakening of the sense of responsibility towards others”. Fact file CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES IN EUROPE AND THE WORLD. The International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU) is an umbrella organization representing 47 universities and higher educational institutes in Europe; 20 of them have faculties of departments of educational science. Two other Catholic institutions that are not yet members of FIUC offer teacher-training courses: Hope University in Liverpool and Newman College in Birmingham. In Eastern Europe 90% of students attend state universities, even though various private universities, some of them Catholic, now exist in countries like Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine and Poland. The “anatomy” of private higher education varies a great deal at the international level. The first countries in which it was developed are those in the Far East, in particular in Japan (16 Catholic universities), in South Korea (124 institutions and 3 Catholic universities), in Taiwan (3 Catholic universities) and in the Philippines (1000 colleges and universities, of which 10 members of IFCU). Even in countries traditionally dominated by public education, such as Mexico, Chile and Brazil, 25% of the student population have been enrolled in private faculties over the last twenty years. In Indonesia there are 12 Catholic universities. In Malaysia too the sector in undergoing considerable development, while in India private universities have long been a consolidated presence. Since the 1990s China has developed a huge network of private universities, but their academic qualifications are not yet officially recognized by the Ministry of Education.