CATECHETICAL CENTRE
ARCHDIOCESE OF TELLICHERRY
Catechetical Centre
Sandesa Bhavan, P.B. No. 70
Thalassery 670 101
Ph. 0490 2344430
“To Grow in Christian Maturity through Faith Formation”
Aims and Objectives:
· To Co-ordinate all the Catechetical activities of the Archdiocese
· To organize training programmes for Catechism teachers and Moral educators
· To promote and organize Sunday school catechism programmes on parish, Forane and Archdiocesan level
· To organize general formation programmes like orientation programmes for priests and sisters, orientation seminars for sacristans, parish council members, parents etc.
· To organize Theological Study Programmes for lay faithful.
General Information:
· Number of Sunday Schools : 186
· Number Sunday school students : 41268
· Number of Sunday school Teachers : 2411
· Priests : 210
· Sisters : 475
· Laymen : 1091
· Laywomen : 635
Trained Teachers
· POC one year Training : 44
· NBCLC Training : 9
· Archdiocesan 15 days ITC : 897
Central Team
· Director - Very Rev. Dr. Thomas Melvettam
· Asst. Director - Rev. Dr. George Kanjirakkatt
· Staff Members - Rev. Fr. George Puthumana
- Sr. Cessin Maria F.C.C.
- Mr. Joby Moolayil
- Regency Brother in charge
CATECHETICAL ACTIVITIES
I. Catechetical programmes for students at Sunday schools
· We have 186 Sunday schools
· We follow standard I to Standard XII system of Catechism classes
· We follow the textbooks prepared by Syro-Malabar Catechism Commission.
A. Sunday school System and Class time:
· Class time – 9.45 am to 1.15 pm on Sundays
· Every Sundays class starts with special prayers and Holy Mass for children
· All the students from Std. I to Std. IV are the members of Thirubala Sakhyam- Holy Child Hood
· All the students from Std. V to XII are active members of Cheupushpa Mission League –CML as a means to practice what they studied in the catechism class.
· All the students from Std. IV to Std. XII has their “Own Bible” – New Testament- as a sign of their devotion to the word of God.
· They are using this Bible at the time of gospel reading in Holy Mass as well as in the classroom.
B. ADDITIONAL TEXT BOOK:
· We provide Additional Text book for Std. IV to Std. X.
· From Std. IV to Std. IX the students will study the life of four saints in each classes to know and to imitate them in their witnessing life.
· For 10th standard students we prepared an additional text book on History of the Archdiocese of Tellicherry and the history of the Malabar Migration.
C. VACATION TRAINING FOR STUDENTS:
· Special Prayer Seminar for all the Sunday school Students on L.P,U.P and H.S levels separately conducted by the Major Seminarians of the Archdiocese with the aim of deepening the prayer experience and faith life of the pupils.
· Every semester there will have one each seminar on personality development and leadership on Sunday school level.
D. CATECHISM DIPLOMA COURSE FOR SPECIAL STUIDENTS (CDCSS)
· A ten days residential intensive catechism class conducted by the catechetical centre for those who are unable to participate in the regular Sunday school classes.
· Students of Navodaya School, army School, Sports School etc. who belong to the Archdiocese of Tellicherry are eligible to get admission to this course.
· This course is conducted for the student from Std. VI to Std. XII.
· After the successful completion of this course the students of Std. X and Std. XII will be awarded with the diploma which will have equal validity to that of the regular students.
E. EVALUATION SYSTEM :
· Evaluation System is based on 70% + 30% - ie. 70 Marks is for written examination from Text book and Additional text book ( 60 +10 respectively) and 30 marks from internal assessment.
· For internal assessment every teacher is liable to keep a hand book about their pupil.
· 30% of marks is distributed to six separate assessment- ie.
i. Attendance – 5 Marks maximum: For each absence ½ of the marks
will be reduced
ii. Prayer Life - 5 Marks: Personal and Community prayer of the pupil
will be assessed.
iii. Attitude and Behavior – 5 Marks: Attitudes and Behavior of the
students in and out side the class room will be assessed.
iv. Bible Study – 5 Marks: Assessed through Bible Quiz competition on
class level in each semester.
v. Participation in the pious organization – 5 Marks: Membership,
active involvements, charity, leadership etc. will be assessed.
vi. Reading Habit – 5 Marks: Selected library books are made available to
them to read and to write short notes on that book. This note will be the
basis of this assessment.
· The internal marks of 30 are granted to the students of Std. I to III only on the basis of the first three elements- ie. 3 x 10 = 30.
· First and Second semester Examinations will be conducted under the direction of the respective Forane committees.
· The Archdiocesan Centre will conduct annual examination by providing question papers prepared and distributed by the centre.
· There is a centralized valuation system for the answer papers of Std. X and XII at the Archdiocesan Centre.
F. SCHOLARSHIPS AND ENDOWMENTS:
· After annual evaluation we award different Scholarships and endowments on Archdiocesan and Forane levels from Std. IV to XII.
Endowments:
i. Mar Sebastian Valloppilly Episcopal Jubilee Memorial Endowment
for 1st Rank in Std. XII
ii. Sri. Pothan Joseph Koottarappallil Memorial Endowment –
for 1st Rank among boys in Std.X
iii. Smt. Annamma Joseph Koottarappallil Memorial Endowment -
for 1st Rank among Girls in Std. X.
Scholarships:
i. Bro.Mathew Kavumkal Shashti poorthi Memorial endowment
scholarship- for Financially backward students of Std. X for higher
studies. ( Rupees 1000/- each for eligible students)
· Besides these, the Archdiocesan Centre grand Cash awards and Merrit Certificates for three top scorers of Std. IV, VII, X and XII on Archdiocesan and Forane levels.
II. TEACHERS TRAINING PROGRAMMES
We have 2411 catechism teachers; out of them 1726 are laymen and laywomen who has no systematic formation in Theology, ecclesiology or teaching methodology. Lack of this sufficient formation is solved by short-term courses and seminars. They are –
· 7 Days Introductory Seminar for the beginners in which the fundamentals of faith communication is taught.
· One Day Seminar, one each in every three semesters in a year, and a Four Days Seminar, once in a year. These programmes are being conducted in the Forane level for all the Catechism teachers of the concerned Forane.
· Intensive Training Course ( I.T.C ) for 50 selected Catechism Teachers for 15 days at the Archdiocesan Centre.
· Advanced Self-study Programme for Catechism Teachers ( ASPCT ): All the Catechism teachers of the Archdiocese are expected to participate in this study programme. Every year the Central Committee is providing them with a selected textbook on Theology or Catechetics at a subsidized rate. There will be three contact classes, one in each semester, for the participants. A competitive examination will be held at the end of the scholastic year.
· Regional Theological Course ( R.T.C ) for the selected teachers at the three regional centers of the Archdiocese. It is a one-year course making use of 18 days including Saturdays and public holidays in a year.
· Continuous Theological Study through Periodicals ( CTSP ) In this programme the catechism teachers in each Sunday school are supplied with six leading catechetical and theological periodicals; viz. “Kathiroli” , “Mathavum Chinthayum”, “Matha Darsanam”, “Dukharana” “Bible Bhashyam” and “Talent” by the Archdiocesan Centre for reading and study. Symposiums, Discussions and an Essay Competition based on these periodicals will be conducted at the end of every scholastic year.
· 3 days Personality Development and Leadership Training for Teachers: It is to make the Sunday school teachers not only to be an effective teacher but also to become a good Christian leader in their society.
· 2 Days Management Training and Workshop for the Sunday school Headmasters
· 3 Days Team Training Programme: In order to conduct these entire Teachers’ training programmes we are in need of a team of experts. But they have to get adequate training and the latest techniques for conducting seminars and training programmes. So we give them classes on different theological and catechetical subjects, discussions, workshops and evaluations.
· Ten days “ KERIGMA” Course for Catechism Teachers: It is a ten days intensive Bible Study and Prayer experience programme for catechism teachers. It aims at the deepening of their knowledge in the word of God and to help them to reflect the Word in their life. So we impart them Bible study classes, Prayer sessions on the basis of gospel, Community programmes etc.
· Training of Regular School Teachers and Headmasters: We have 24 High schools and 48 Primary schools, where 31657 students including Catholics, Non-Catholics and Non- Christians are studying. There are 1357 trained teachers are working in our schools. So we give special programmes like leadership training, moral instruction training for all our regular school teachers, so that they may be able to point at the divine realities even when they teach secular subjects.
III. PLANNING AND CO-ORDINATION:
a. Visitors: All the Catechetical activities of the Archdiocese are coordinated by the regular visit of the Visitors. Archdiocesan visitors who are appointed by the Archdiocesan director do this work of this coordination for the Archdiocesan Catechetical Committee and the Forane visitors who are appointed by the Forane committee will do this work for the Forane.
b. There are three levels of Catechetical Committees to plan and coordinate the catechetical activities on the respective levels.
· Parish catechetical Committee:
Headed by the parish Priest
Headmaster and Sunday school staff, representative from the parish
Council and religious houses in the parish constitutes this committee.
It organizes the parish level catechetical programmes of its own an and are responsible for the implementation of the programmes given from the Archdiocesan Centre.
· Forane Catechetical Committee:
- There are 15 Forane committees
- Headed by Forane Vicar <P class=MsoBod
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