CALCUTTA, India (UCAN) -- Speakers at the All India National Association of Catholic Schools (AINACS) convention, meeting here, asked its members to open up to the soico-economic realities of the nation.

Two bishops and the West Bengal state governor challenged some 300 Catholic school officials to develop a family-oriented education which understands India's human suffering and socio-economic problems.

Addressing the 28th annual AINACS meeting Oct. 25-29 in Calcutta, eastern India, Jesuit Bishop Joseph. R. Rodericks of Jamshedpur asked educators to "rise above the little school world" to what is happening in the country.

Everyday in some part of the country, Christian institutions are attacked, he said, and Christian activities are criticized not only by irresponsible people but the Supreme Court and members of parliament and legislatures.

He said that in a country like India, just doing good is not enough, so educators should project an image making them recognizable as people of God.

We need not produce an army of clerks, but men and women who will form future India through their respective field of life, the bishop said.

He said Christians, despite having the largest number of personnel in education, were totally absent from policymaking bodies of the government.

Archbishop Henry D'Souza of Calcutta said Catholic schools should offer value-based, family-oriented education to make holistic human persons.

He asked teachers not to burden infants with social and parental pressures to produce high results, but to restore their childhood joys.

Challenging the compartmentalization of subjects, Archbishop D'Souza advocated study of social situations, considering India's poverty and illiteracy.

West Bengal Governor K.V. Reghunath Reddy said modern education should emphasize not only the latest scientific developments but also moral aspects of life, humanism and ethical values.

Education should help the country free itself of poverty, ignorance and prejudice, and should sensitize our citizens to social problems, he said.

Teachers, Reddy said, through their professional and social life, mold the character of not only students but society to defeat the evil forces of communalism, racism and separatism.

He said such evils now threaten the integrity of India and only proper education of future citizens will help eradicate them.

Reddy asked for integrated vocational training and developing student skills to make them economically self-reliant and independent.

The AINACS members, after discussion, agreed that the primary objective of Catholic Schools is to reflect the "undying love of God to all" and to continue to foster the values of national integration and religious harmony.

They pledged to motivate staff through more workshops and seminars "to love and accept every child as a unique person," encouraging collaboration rather than competition.

AINACS, with 2,500 members and recognized by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India as representing Catholic schools in India, is affiliated with the International Office of Catholic Education in Brussels.

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