More efforts are needed to implement a pro-poor education policy that Indian bishops released three years ago, say Church educators.

Thirty-six delegates from across India, during a recent meeting in Hyderabad, evaluated the implementation of the All India Catholic Education Policy that the bishops released in 2007.

The document stressed that “all Catholics are admitted to our schools on the essential merit that they are Catholics” and that no Catholic child should be deprived of quality education because of lack of means.

Delegates, during their Aug. 26-29 meeting, sought ways to better implement the policy in Catholic schools across India.

“Though all the [Church] regions are keenly implementing the policy, the workshop decided to accelerate the implementation in a scientific manner,” said a participant.

Delegates said they wanted “scientific and accurate reports” from regions presenting the achievements and challenges in implementing the policy.

They suggested that the bishops’ Commission for Education and Culture, which organized the meeting, together with regional teams organize awareness programs on policy implementation.

An action plan to advance the implementation of the policy was also released during the meeting.

The Catholic Church runs more than 20,000 educational institutions serving more than 10 million students in the country.

Most schools, about 59 percent, operate in villages and serve poor, rural people.

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