-Fr. Savio Silveira sdb
We, the 142 delegates of the Third National
Educational Conference of Don Bosco Schools (NECDBS) India 2014—organised by
the All India Don Bosco Educational Society (AIDBES) in collaboration with the
Salesian Province of Mumbai and Adhyayan—met from 06 to 09 November 2014, at
Don Bosco, Matunga, Mumbai.
In this Bicentenary Year of the Birth of
Don Bosco, we recommit ourselves to the four objectives of the Preventive
System—the integral development of the young, the discovery of their life
project, a commitment to transforming the world, and helping the young to
understand God’s plan for their lives—as we journey with and for the young,
especially the poor and the marginalised.
We express our gratitude to the Salesian
pioneers in India and the other great Salesian educators who have handed down
to us Don Bosco’s educational system and spirituality.
We wish to carry forward this legacy we
have received by “Leading Don Bosco Schools in the Twenty-First Century,” and
so we reflected on:
Quality
Education, which calls for inspirational leaders,
motivated educators and involved students who work within a dynamic learning
ecosystem to help all stakeholders develop holistically to become active and
productive citizens in the local, national and global contexts;
Preparing
Salesians to Lead Schools by instituting systems and processes, which form school leaders who share the larger Salesian vision,
build and lead motivated teams, plan carefully and execute with finesse, are
innovative, creative and move beyond comfort zones, relate respectfully and
professionally, and are role models to their staff and students;
Leadership
for Teaching-Learning and the Curriculum, which
facilitates the training of creative and motivated educators who cater to
different learning-styles of individual students to foster their critical
thinking and holistic development, and help them develop values and life
skills;
School
Leadership, where the principal is a person of
integrity, has a vision for the institute, communicates clearly, recognises and
appreciates those who deserve it, corrects gently, supports and encourages,
listens and is open to feedback, works at changing mind-sets, promotes
collective responsibility, and is thus a leader—not just a manager—through
skills, attitude and style of functioning;
Self-Review
and Validation against a Standard, which presupposes
honest self-learning for self-enhancement, trains all stakeholders to engage in
an evidence-based and comprehensive evaluation against a globally-accepted
benchmark, and aims at ensuring the accountability of all stakeholders in
providing quality education;
Community
and Partnerships, which enable formation of citizen
leaders who make an impact through children-for-children, children-for-society
and children-for-the-world ventures, and who apply classroom learning to
transform situations and issues in the local and global communities.
And so, challenged by our reflection on
this theme, as a national network of Don Bosco Schools, we resolve:
- - to prepare Salesians to lead our schools effectively;
- - to enhance the quality of education by networking among our schools through exchange programs for staff and students—first at the regional levels and then at the national level;
- - to create a pool of Salesian assessors, and train them to assess Salesian schools;
- - to conduct, within a stipulated period, a self-review and validation of our schools against a globally-accepted benchmark;
- - to share our Salesian educational heritage with others, and thereby influence the national educational environment and policies.
As passionate Salesian Educators, inspired
by Don Bosco and emboldened by the ideals of this Conference, we pledge to lead
our schools to become happy, engaging and life-affirming institutions that
impact the educational landscape of our country.
Mumbai,
09 November 2014.