Centre for Excellence
The Centre for Excellence provides Career Guidance to the youngsters of our churches, and the educational institutions including the Diocesan Hostels to help them prepare for civil service examinations and other competitive examinations.
Who leads the board
Director
Prof. Dr. S. Stephen Jebanesan
Mission and purpose
The Centre for Excellence was established by our Beloved Bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Paul Francis Ravichandran with a vision and farsightedness to help the youth of our churches to get career guidance and find a bright future.
The Centre for Excellence provides Career Guidance to the youngsters of our churches, and the educational institutions including the Diocesan Hostels to help them prepare for civil service examinations and other competitive examinations.
The Centre also aims at helping the youth aim for higher goals and build a promising future. The focus will be mainly on underprivileged youth from various sectors of the Diocese who may need a determined, constructive career guidance not only in competitive examinations but also in other areas of excellence like communication skills, leadership and personality development.
The focus of the Centre will be multidimensional in nature. Satellite centers established in different areas of the Diocese will also offer job-oriented certificate courses in Professional Communication, English Language Teaching, Health care, Student Skill Development, Leadership Training, Artificial Intelligence etc. The certificate programs will be conducted under the banner of CSI Diocese of Madras in collaboration with recognized universities.
The education ministry of the Centre for Excellence will emphasize on kindling interest in learning process, nurturing talents and achieving academic excellence which will go a long way in strengthening the youth of our churches who will be future leaders.
Future plans and programs
With the blessings of our beloved Bishop it has been decided to start different centers of Excellence in different places. Each Centre will have unique programs to cater to the needs of the youngsters of our churches who will be encouraged to pursue their goals in education with sustained interest.
- Innovative programs will be organized to help our Diocesan hostel students specially the first generation and underprivileged learners. Periodical programs will be arranged for the students of 10th, 11th and 12th to provide guidance and direction in pursuing their goals and aims. Experts in the field of competitive exams and communication skills will be invited to interact with the hostel students. Those students who have been identified with greater potential and keen interest will be further helped by linking them with institutes that provide first hand training towards facing competitive exams.
- It is planned to strengthen Centers at CSI Bishop Newbigin College of Education and CSI Ewart College, the pioneering institutions that provide the very best higher education. The Centers here will provide programs that would help not only our students but also youth from surrounding churches in enhancing their potential towards facing exams like UPSC, SLET and NET, NEET and also other relevant competitive exams pertaining to job opportunities in Banks and Railways. The Centre will also focus on providing certificate courses in life skills, creative writing, professional communication, health care, AI etc. One of the staff of the college appointed as the local coordinator of the programs will also help in planning and executing various activities. Our institutions themselves have enough man power, potential and talents to run programs. The Centre for Excellence will also be helpful to our colleges in getting a higher ranking in NAAC accreditation.
- A few more centres in our Diocesan churches and institutions will go a long way in helping our youth to develop a keen interest in preparing for competitive exams and develop their skills in communication which is the need of the hour.
- The centre is not a business venture but a humble attempt in helping our church youth specially from under privileged sector to concentrate on specialised expertise and best practices to drive in innovative thinking, research and leadership qualities.
Events of the board
Recent events
13 September 2026
Centre at Walajabad CSI Church
Another milestone was reached by the establishment of a Centre at Walajabad CSI Church on 13th September 2026 for the benefit of the youth from the churches in and around Walajabad. This will help the Youth to develop an interest in competitive examinations and understand their nuances. The focus is also on developing communication skills to face interviews. Mr. John Sunderaj of the church is the Coordinator of programs. The very first program for the youth made a great impact and the speaker Professor. Paul Prasanna spoke on the need for developing strong communication skills for a better future.
19 August 2026
Centre at CSI Bishop Newbigin College of Education
A new Centre was started at CSI Bishop Newbigin college of Education with the aim of Enlightening our students on various avenues of competitive exams and also strengthening their skills on communication and developing leadership qualities. Dr. Godwin, the librarian of the college has been appointed as the Coordinator of the programs. The first program of the Centre was organized on 19th August 2026 and Dr. Christopher Chandran conducted a workshop on Servant Leadership.
17 July 2026
Centre at CSI Ewart College, Melrosapuram
Yet another Centre was launched at CSI Ewart College, Melrosapuram to sensitize the college graduates on different possibilities of applying for competitive exams and also to strengthen their communication skills as well as life skills. Dr. Ethel Juliet of the Department of English has taken the responsibility of coordinating the programs. The first program was organized on 17th July 2026 and Dr. Christopher Chandran spoke on Career Advancement. The second program of the Centre was held on 18th August 2026 and the resource person Dr. Ilango from IAS, IPS Academy enlightened the students on Empowering Young minds towards a Prominent Future.
13 April 2026
Contemporary Approaches to NEET Examination
Following our Bishop’s guidance on 13/04/26 yet another unique program entitled ‘Contemporary Approaches to NEET Examination’ was conducted at LITE chapel for the NEET aspirants of our churches. Nearly sixty students participated in this program and the distinguished guest of honor, our diocesan Vice President inaugurated the program with his words of wisdom and prayers. Dr. R. Sheba the medical director along with a team of doctors oriented the participants on some of the latest approaches towards meeting the challenges of NEET examination. Dr. Raju, the DEO and Dr. Miriam Samuel enlightened the students with their instructions on how to approach the NEET examinations with a positive mindset.
28 March 2026
Student Skill Development and Career Guidance
According to our Bishop’s instructions, on 28/03/26, at CSI Bain School chapel, a one day program entitled ‘Student Skill Development and Career Guidance’ was organized exclusively for the 12th std students from the CSI Diocesan Hostels and nearly 100 students participated. The MDC officials graced the occasion and the inaugural address was given by the honorable Diocesan Vice President. The program oriented the students on the possible avenues of various competitive exams, admissions in colleges, communication skills and positive thinking. Subject experts like Dr. Miriam Samuel, Professor Dr. Milton, Professor Paul Prasanna, Dr. Christopher Chandran shared their expertise on several aspects of higher education and making the right choices. The program was followed by the students expressing their personal views through a questionnaire. We thank our Beloved Diocesan Secretary, Treasurer and Hostel Board Directors for helping with all the arrangements.
24 March 2026
First planning committee meeting
The very first planning committee meeting of The Centre for Excellence was convened by our Beloved Bishop on 24/03/26 at LITE building which was attended by MDC officials, Hostel Board Directors, IAS officer Mr. Davidar, Vice Chancellor Dr. Vasanthi, Diocesan College Director, Secretary, and a few other subject experts. Various aspects of the Centre and its focus was discussed.