XAVIER'S News Feature Service (XNFT) Goan Elected President of AIACHE
At the recently concluded 14th General Body Meeting of All India Association For Christian Higher Education (AIACHE) and Triennial Conference of Christian Colleges and Universities in India, held recently in New Delhi, Prof. Newman Fernandes was elected President of the Association for a period of three years. It is for the first time that a Goan was elected President of this Association. Prof. Fernandes is the Principal of St. Xavier's College, Mapusa and he piloted the project of College with Potential for Excellence for St. Xavier's which was selected as one of the best 47 Colleges in India out of 15,000 Colleges, in 2004. AIACHE was founded in January 1967 at a historic meeting of the Principals of Christian Colleges held at Madras Christian College, Tamilnadu. Among its founding leaders were Fr. T.A.Mathias, Dr. Chandran Devanesan, Dr. Richard Dickinson,Dr. P.T. Chandy, Bishop Paulose Mar Gregorios & Archbishop Angelo Fernandes. AIACHE is the ecumenical, professional association of 300 Colleges & Universities in India owned and managed by the Catholic Protestant and Orthodox Churches. It is an inter-state, transdenominational forum, with a view to maximizing their effectiveness and service to the national Community. The bulk of the Colleges cater to the Arts, Science and Commerce undergraduate and post-graduate courses. Among the professional Colleges, 3 are medical colleges, 3 engineering Colleges, 32 Colleges of education, 1 College of physical education, 5 Colleges of Social Work, 1 agricultural deemed University, 2 Colleges of home science and 1 College of Law. 35 of the Colleges were established 100 years ago. These Colleges have over 3,50,000 students (55 % female and 45% male ) and the number of teachers is above 15000. The Presidency alternates between Colleges managed by Roman Catholics and other Churches every three years. In the previous triennium, Dr.R.B.Lal, Vice-Chancellor of Allahabad Agricultural Institute Deemed University was the President. Dr. Mani Jacob is the General Secretary of the Association. Over the years AIACHE has become the symbol of the deepening spirit of ecumenism and oneness in the mission of the Churches with the objective to bring about communion among people and to work for justice and peace. The newly elected President is also the member of the National Monitoring Committee for Minorities Education constituted by the HRD Ministry as well as Chairman of the Forum of Principals & Representatives of Management of Non Government Colleges in Goa. AIACHE's objectives include the promotion of sound education in all institutions of higher learning in India, in keeping with the heritage and aspirations of the country and the needs of national development. It also provides services to colleges related to liaison, information, visits, advocacy, institutional evaluation, legal and project assistance, consultancy etc.
