General Information

1. CATECHISM

Catechism is education in the faith of Children, youth and adults which includes the teaching of Christian doctrine, imparted in an organic and systematic way, with a view of initiating the hearers into the fullness of Christian life. It is the mission and task entrusted to the Church by the Lord, to safeguard and impart faith. Catechesis is to present the sacred doctrines of faith and morals, and make it acceptable and experiential to the faithful, especially the children.

2. ACADEMIC YEAR

Sunday School academic year shall be from the second Sunday of July to the last Sunday of April every year. The units shall take utmost care not to give unnecessary holidays for Catechism classes.

3. CLASSES

As far as possible the units shall conduct classes for all the sections from standard one to ten and youth catechesis. Lack of enough number of students and teachers may necessitate clubbing two classes together. In such a situation, the unit is free to choose which texts shall be followed in the particular section.

4. CATECHETICAL ASSEMBLY

Each unit shall conduct an Assembly prior to Sunday classes. The assembly will consist of an Anthem, a Pledge, a Prayer and listening to recent Church news.

5. DURATION

Duration of catechism classes should be minimum one hour.

6. TEXT BOOK AND DIARY

Each student shall have a copy of the text book prescribed for the respective section and the catechetical diary prepared every year. Catechetical diary is a handbook with all necessary information on Sunday School academic year. The same diary will have sufficient space to take class notes too.

7. EXAMINATIONS

There shall be two exams in an academic year, 1st semester and 2 semester examinations. 1st semester examination is Scheduled for November 28th 2010. 2nd semester examination will be on April 10th, 2010. 60% of the questions will be based on text book, 20% will be from Bible and common prayers, 10%
Saints, 5% from general Church news and 5% will be of internal assessment.
For the Scholarship Examination the percentage will be as follows-
Class 1-3 100% questions will be from text.
Class 4-9., 65% will be text and 20% will be from Bible and common prayers, 10% Saints and 5% will be from General church news.
For Class 10, 75 % will be from Text, 20% will be from Bible and common prayers, 5% will be from General church news
•Every unit shall try to stick to the timing as far as possible  unless there is any sufficient reason otherwise.
• Question papers shall be prepared for each section separately and provided from the centre.

8. INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

Internal assessment is aimed at evaluating the Christian spirit and values in the life of a catechism student. The class teacher should note down the assessment of the student based on the character, sacramental life, prayer life, behavior in the church, involvement in the parish activities, participation the pious association and family units, readiness to help others etc. internal assessment should be marked in each semester.

9. ATTENDANCE

Minimum 50% of attendance in the catechism class is mandatory for students to appear for the examinations.

10. PRIZES AND AWARDS

• Each standard will have 1st, 2nd and 3rd Study prizes. The students who score top marks will be awarded.
• The Students who have full attendance will be awarded.

11. CATECHETICAL SCHOLARSHIPS
Those who score first and second in both examinations together in each class will be eligible for scholarship exam. I, II and III rank in the scholarship examination will be awarded.

12. SUNDAY SCHOOL CERTIFICATES

Sunday school certificates shall be given to all the students who complete tenth class of the Sunday School.

13. SYLLABUS

Textbooks and the portion to be covered shall be given in the Catechetical Diary of each academic year.

14. BIBLE QUIZ

Will be arranged from the centre. All units are expected to participate in it.

15. SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS

Catechism teachers have to give living witness to the children in the community. Each unit should have a Head Teacher (HM), Secretary, sufficient number of teachers and some auxiliary staff for substitution in the case of absence of a regular teacher. It is advised that the head teacher may be changed
after a period of 3-5 years.
 •No class should be missed due to absence of teachers.
 • It is advisable that the teachers shall not be shifted from one section to another frequently and unnecessarily.
 • Teachers shall be those who are brought up in Catholic faith, frequenting the sacraments, accepted in the community, regular in the class and undergone orientation.
 • Teachers shall prepare the lessons in advance.
 • Regular Staff meetings shall be conducted on a monthly basis.
 • Secretary has to write the minutes of the meeting.
 • Teachers shall maintain attendance registers.
 • HM shall be a parish/mass centre committee member too.
 • Sufficient fund should be sanctioned from the parish for Catechism.
 • The Secretary shall report to the Centre on the status of the Sunday School by the middle of the academic year.

16. CATECHISM TEACHER’S TRAINING PROGRAMME

Catechism Teachers Training Programme will be conducted thrice in this year.
 • Orientation Seminar, which will be done in the beginning of this academic year.
 • One day Training Programs will be arranged in between the academic year to introduce the teachers to different teaching skills and approaches.

17. TEACHER’S DAY

Teachers’ Day will be celebrated on the following Sunday of the feast of St.Charles Boromeo, the patron of catechism teachers. This day is specially set apart to remember and honor the teachers. The gathering of all the teachers will be held on this day at the centre.

18. CATECHETICAL DAY

Every unit shall celebrate Faith Formation Sunday given in the calendar in order to give awareness to the whole parish on the need of Catechesis. Mass shall be celebrated focusing on faith formation and giving more participation for children, meetings and seminars shall be conducted for parents, teachers
shall be honored on the day, talented students shall be awarded etc.

19. BIBLE STUDY

All the units have to arrange some biblical programmes on this day in order to propagate the message of Bible, Programmes like Skits, Songs, Bible quiz etc. can be arranged.

20. CHILDREN’S ACADEMY

It is advisable to conduct short meetings with small cultural programs during important days like Parish feast day, Independence Day, Mission Sunday, Christmas etc. to highlight the importance of the event and to give opportunity to children to develop their talents.

21. CATECHETICAL LIBRARY

It is good to have a library for each catechetical centre for reference and use of teachers and students.
It helps to develop the reading habits of the children especially of spiritual books.

22. SACRAMENTS

Students shall be encouraged to receive sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion frequently.
• They shall be familiarized with prayers and songs of the Holy Mass.
• It is advisable that the second reading of Sunday shall be read by a Sunday School student.
• Transliterated texts are available and should be used by those who can not read or write in Malayalam.
• There shall be special preparation for First Holy Communion and Confirmation.
• Students shall be administered First Holy Communion preferably in the fourth standard.

23. ALTAR SERVERS

Altar Servers shall be trained from among the Sunday School students.

24. CHILDREN’S CHOIR GROUP

Each unit shall form a student choir group and will give them opportunities to sing during Holy Mass and other occasions.

25.CATECHETICAL ZONES
For administration purpose Delhi Syro-Malabar Catechetical units are divided into 4 different catechetical zones. Each catechetical unit will have zonal co-ordinators.

26. Website: www.smmdelhi.com

Delhi Syro-Malabar Catechetical Center has informative catechetical web pages in our Delhi Syro-Malabar Mission’s website. It contains all details of Delhi Syro-Malabar Catechetical center, such as news, information, circulars, study materials, Photo Galleries etc. Many things are also explained with images.