The Primary Teachers Education College that has been in operation since 1958 is expanding to include a Bachelor of Education course to train secondary school teachers.

The present Primary Teaching Training Institute in Hazaribag, India began in 1958 with just 15 students.

With recognition in 1997 from the National Council of Teacher Education, the course has grown and now offers 100 places each year. It is recognised in the state for its high-quality program that has positive cumulative effect. 

For the last 60 years, 100 percent of its students have passed the program and became teachers throughout the Jharkhand state.

The government has now directed the Jesuits to expand the college to a composite campus that offers more than one teacher training program in order to continue its operations. This led to the expansion project to offer a Bachelor of Education program which will train teachers for secondary schools.

The construction of the new building that commenced in December 2017 was completed at the beginning of 2020 to welcome the new students for the new semester.

The new composite college of teacher training for primary level and secondary level will be named Xavier College of Education. This College is in Sitagarha, close to Hazaribag city in Jharkhand State.

Overcoming discrimination

Around 40 percent of Jharkhand’s population is made up of various indigenous groups, including the Dalit communities. The Santhals are the biggest tribal group in the State and only a third are literate. Tribal and Dalit communities still face discrimination in most aspects of life and continue to remain over-represented in all statistics relating to poverty, quality of life and injustice.

The majority of the students and graduates of the College are from tribal groups and thus they become crucial role models for their communities. Their teaching and instilling of high moral values make a positive impact on individuals, villages and communities.

Building for the future

Thanks to your generous support, the future teachers who will graduate from the Xavier College of Education will go on to teach in government, religious and other independent schools primarily within Jharkhand State to educate thousands of children.

The College envisions those children will then go on to educate tens of thousands more in the future.

“Just imagine if 100 Xavier College secondary teachers each year get work in a high school of even 1,000 students,” says Fr Bob Slattery SJ, Hazaribag Jesuit Province’s Development Director. “Their presence in the school, both in teaching and by their very presence, will affect 10,000 students directly and indirectly.”

“Poor families will benefit as these newly trained teachers get a salary and are able to help their families. As the students’ families benefit, their children will learn more.”

 

Chiang Rai, located near the Golden Triangle in Northern Thailand, is one of the most underdeveloped regions in the country. With only two major universities in the northern part of Thailand, there is a serious shortage of tertiary education available.

For the people from marginalised ethnic minorities, made up of many different tribes known as the ‘Hill Tribes’, the situation is much worse. They often don’t have the necessary documentation to be accepted into schools and universities. Even if they did, their remote location and financial situation prohibit them from receiving any quality education.

Jesuits in Thailand saw the urgent need to establish an educational institution for the young people from these marginalised groups, and created their first educational project of Jesuit Foundation for Education in Thailand.

With support from our Jesuit Mission friends, Xavier Learning Community (XLC) was established in 2016.

The institution offers a Bachelor degree in English with profession-based training, including eco-tourism and hospitality. It has also formed partnerships with other academic institutions such as Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), a local university that offers online programs, and Sanata Dharma University (SDU), a Jesuit university in Indonesia.

With an emphasis on social justice, XLC is an inclusive learning environment that welcomes and empowers university-age students from diverse ethnicities and cultures.

Furthermore, as a Jesuit institution, XLC is committed to forming graduates who are ethical and others-centric. The students’ professional skills are bolstered by their capacity for critical thinking and the desire to find meaning in life.

“Xavier Learning Community has brought together students, volunteers, and professionals for the overall purpose of holistic formation for the young men and women. Our students would not be able to afford higher education otherwise, or at least would bring their families into significant debts.”

Fr Pichet Saengthien SJ, previous Director of Xavier Learning Community

XLC has 87  students residing and studying. All 87 students are from hill tribes – predominantly of Karen and Akha tribes.

Through the education and formation they gain from XLC, upon graduation, students will be armed with life skills and academic knowledge that will empower them to be in control of their futures. This empowerment will lead to better employment opportunities, and community development that will uplift not only their own lives, but those of their whole community.

It is the spirit of a learning community that forms XLC’s students in the Ignatian ethos to become leaders and inspire change in their communities.

Learning in community invites education both inside and outside the classroom, allowing the students at XLC to develop holistically through a formal education and their own local knowledge.

Su Mae’s Story

“Before coming here, I did not think I had many opportunities in life.”

Su Mae

For students, like 24-year-old Su Mae, from ethnic minority groups in rural northern Thailand, a scholarship to study a Bachelor Degree at Xavier Learning Community in Chiang Rai, Thailand opens doors to a better life filled with boundless possibilities.

As the youngest daughter of rural subsistence farmers, Su Mae felt her future was pre-determined as both of her older sisters had to abandon their studies to start working to support the family. Yet, thanks to your generosity, Su Mae can receive a quality education and rewrite her future.

In 2023, XLC supported more than 100 students from vulnerable Indigenous groups including Akha, H’mong, Karen and Lanna. This holistic education model helps students find meaningful employment, build more sustainable communities and to serve others.

The Campion Institute teaches Myanmar’s young people English language skills and critical thinking to enable them to transform their futures.

For decades, Myanmar was controlled by a brutal military regime. The years of oppression resulted in entrenched, widespread poverty; displacement of indigenous people; and severely underdeveloped healthcare, education and judicial systems.

Since the military coup in 2021, Myanmar has been in a state of humanitarian crisis. In April 2024, the military junta commenced compulsory conscription for all young men (18-35) and young women (18-27), triggering new levels of turmoil as young men and women attempt to flee the country.

Now, over one third of Myanmar’s population is living in extreme need. More than 2.8 million have been forced to flee their homes, while access to basics like education, healthcare and employment are severely limited. 

For over two decades, our local partners have been accompanying youth in Myanmar and providing them with skills to transform their futures and help others do so as well.

In Yangon, the Campion Institute for English Language teaches teenagers and young adults four skills in English (reading, writing, listening and speaking). It has about 300 students of various religious, ethnic and economic backgrounds each semester.  

As their examination results and ‘Friday Performances’ presentations show, the students make significant improvements in their English language skills, self-confidence and critical thinking within a year. 

Exemplifying Ignatian values, Campion also provides its students with opportunities to serve in their own communities, outside of class.

“Campion has been upholding a preferential option for the poor since it opened in 2005,” says Fr Wilbert Mireh SJ, Campion Institute for English Language. “Thanks to the generous support from Jesuit Mission Australia, we have been able to offer tuition scholarships for over 100 students each year.”

With a focus on service and social justice, Campion takes students from all over Myanmar. Many of them come from marginal communities. Although Campion charges minimal fees to make the quality education it offers affordable, some students still need assistance with tuition and basic living expenses. 

Lucia’s Story

“I have more confidence than before.”

Lucia

Lucia Roi Grawng is a 26-year-old woman from Kachin State in the north, where armed conflicts mainly for natural resources have been going on for half a century.  The most recent conflicts forced more than 100,000 people, including Lucia’s family, to flee from their homes and farms.

Most of them now live in temporary camps for internally displaced persons and, having lost their farms, have no way to earn a living.  They are dependent on aid from the Church and other organisations.

Lucia lived in one of these camps with her parents and five siblings.  Despite the basic conditions of the camp, she managed to complete her high school and university studies.

She also received training in teaching from our local partner, and taught children in the camp as a volunteer for two years.

Lucia receives a tuition scholarship for her studies at Campion, and help with her accommodation and living expenses. She is studying hard, hoping for a better future and to be able to contribute to society.

Read more about the escalating crisis in Myanmar and Jesuit Mission Australia’s emergency response. 

The Myanmar Leadership Institute aims to form leaders who are guided by compassion for the vulnerable, and who will promote development, prosperity and peace for all.

Since the military coup in 2021, Myanmar has been in a state of humanitarian crisis.

In April 2024, the military junta commenced compulsory conscription for all young men (18-35) and young women (18-27), triggering new levels of turmoil as young men and women attempt to flee the country.

Now, over one third of Myanmar’s population is living in extreme need. More than 2.8 million have been forced to flee their homes, while access to basics like education, healthcare and employment are severely limited. 

For over two decades, our local partners have been accompanying youth and providing them with skills to transform their futures and help others do so as well.

In October 2018, at the request of Cardinal Charles Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, and with the support of Jesuit Mission Australia, the Myanmar Leadership Institute (MLI) in Yangon was established.

The Institute aspires to form a generation of leaders who will see their role through the lens of social justice, and lead with competence and compassion. From under 20 students in its first year, MLI has educated over 900 students, providing them with quality education and leadership training rooted in the Jesuit tradition of academic excellence and social justice.

Today, MLI offers a diverse range of courses and certificates, including a comprehensive Diploma in Leadership spanning four quarters.

“We hope to form leaders who are not only able, capable and employable, but also compassionate, who are able to think critically and creatively towards serving the common good in line with the values of justice, solidarity and preferential option for the poor.”

A teacher at the Institute

Additional offerings include the Pastoral Leadership and Management Certificate, Essential Graphic Design Certificate, Teacher Training Certificate, Faculty professional development programs, and specialised workshops on topics such as leadership, women empowerment, applied research, Catholic social teaching, learning facilitation, team building, foundations of leadership, peace leadership, and e-commerce.

These programs provide a wide spectrum of educational and professional development opportunities.

MLI aims to have a good balance of students in terms of background, profession and faith as it sees its graduates in leadership roles across society – in non-government and civil society organisations, religious communities, the education and health sectors, businesses and government agencies.

Victoria’s Story

Victoria, 23, is from a Catholic family in Kachin State, where civil war has led to more than 100,000 being internally displaced.  Victoria herself has lived in a camp for internally displaced persons (IDP).

She worked in Kachin for six years before moving to Yangon in 2017.  She was a volunteer youth worker and teacher in Phakant diocese and in IDP camps for four years, and later a peace trainer in Myitkyina.

As she went about her work, she came to realise that she needed training.  She had to organise and lead people, but she did not know how to do this.  She had to speak to donors and partners, but she could not express herself well in English.

She wanted so much to learn and improve her skills that she decided to move across the country to Yangon.  She did not let the fact that she did not know anyone there or where she could get good training stop her.  A contact suggested she go to the Jesuit-run Campion Institute for English Language.

It was at Campion that she learnt of MLI, and she applied for the leadership course.  She is finding the program interesting and challenging especially doing research, which she has never had to do before.

“Before, I thought this course was only for people who were already leaders,” says Victoria. “Now I know that this course is for all. All of us have to know about leadership skills.”

Victoria she is learning as much as she can, because when she finishes the program, she wants to go back to Kachin to share what she has learnt.

Read more about the escalating crisis in Myanmar and Jesuit Mission Australia’s emergency response.