Bangladesh Catholic Church Has Its Own Teachers' Training College

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Sister Moli Costa, CSC, the principal of Archbishop T. A. Ganguly
Teachers' Training College, on the day of the inauguration.
Archbishop T. A. Ganguly's photo is on the background.

(L - R) The teachers' training college principal Sister Moli Costa, CSC,
Holy Cross College professor Sister Joseph Mary, CSC,
and Holy Cross Brothers' superior Brother Binoy Gomes, CSC,
with other participants at the inauguration ceremony

St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School and College,
where Archbishop T. A. Ganguly Teachers' Training
College is holding its classes in the afternoon
Photos received through the courtesy of Brother Nipu Hubert Rozario, CSC

Archbishop Paulinus Costa inaugurated Archbishop T. A. Ganguly Teachers' Training College in Dhaka on June 25, 2009. Vatican nuncio Archbishop Joseph Marino, Chairman of the Episcopal Commission for Christian Education Bishop Theotonius Gomes, CSC, and the only Christian member of the Parliament Promode Mankin were present at the ceremony along with other guests and teachers and students of the college.

Housed at St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School and College building, the teachers' training classes started on July 1 with 34 students. Sister Moli Gomes, CSC, is the first principal of this college, which has a capacity for 100 students. Both Catholic and non-Catholic teachers will receive training in this college.

Named after Archbhishop Theotonius Amal Ganguly, CSC, -- the first Bangali bishop and archbishop of Bangladesh -- the college is run by the Episcopal Commission for Christian Education under the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB). It is noteworthy that the canonization process of Archbishop Ganguly started in the recent past.

The Pratibeshi, the national Catholic weekly, reports that among 120 teachers' colleges in Bangladesh, it is the first such Christian college. The Catholic Church in its six dioceses of Bangladesh is involved in education since 1853. It has four colleges, 48 high schools, 12 junior high schools, and more than 130 primary schools.