There's been a good deal of discussion around the purpose of education in the past week with the announcement of university reforms designed to respond to Australia's employment demands in a post-COVID context.

It's understandable, given the centuries-old pragmatic approach to education around the world, that a core purpose of schooling and tertiary education is the preparation of young people to enter the workforce and become productive members of society.

We know that education is much more than that, and lies at the heart of our social and cultural understanding of ourselves, of others in our communities, and the world. 

For Catholic education, this purpose runs even deeper to the formation and development of the whole person, and their understanding of, and relationship to, God and Jesus Christ.

As the Congregation of Catholic Education reminds us in The Catholic school on the threshold of the third millenium, "the person of each individual human being, in his or her material and spiritual needs, is at the heart of Christ's teaching: this is why the promotion of the human person is the goal of the Catholic school".

For Catholic schools, the education of young people starts with the formation of a human person that can discern truth, justice and the path of love and hope in a world that is facing enormous challenges politically, societally, environmentally and morally.

This requires the development of knowledge and skills which will enable our young people to make a meaningful contribution to their communities. It also relies on an education that fosters within our students an active faith experience that engages them in a lifelong commitment to Christ's mission, "that all may have life and have it to the full" (John 10:10).

As we head towards the celebration of 200 years of Catholic education in Australia, commencing later in the year, it will be timely to reflect on the contribution our schools and educational institutions have made to this mission over two centuries.

It will also provide a valuable opportunity to look to the future and how we can continue to strengthen and enrich our work to form young people of faith and conscience, while we also prepare them to face the challenges ahead. 

Jacinta Collins
National Catholic Education executive director