Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College

Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College
BTESSC
TypeRegulatory body for Theological education in India
Established1975
PresidentZacharias Mar Aprem
Location
Bangalore
,
Karnataka
,
India
AffiliationsSenate of Serampore College (University)
Websitebtessc.org

The Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College (BTESSC) is the arm of theological education under the Senate of Serampore College (University).[1][2] BTESSC was formed in 1975.

The Senate of Serampore College (University), under which the BTESSC was constituted, is a university within the meaning of Section 2 (f)[3] of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956[4] (as modified up to 20 December 1985).

In fact, Serampore was the first institution[5] to be given the status of a university in India.

The BTESSC is one of the major representative bodies of churches legally constituted and responsible for administering theological education in South Asia[6]

Secretary of BTESSC, The Rev. T. Matthews Emmanuel, CBCNC died on 24 April 2021 in Bangalore. He began his theological studies in Andhra Christian Theological College, Hyderabad and upgraded his studies in Union Biblical Seminary, Pune. For postgraduate studies, he enrolled in Federated Faculty for Research in Religion and Culture, Kottayam and went on to complete doctoral studies in South Asia Theological Research Institute, then in Bangalore. He began his teaching career from Baptist Theological College, Pfütsero (Nagaland), Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College, Shamshabad (Telangana), and Andhra Christian Theological College, Secunderabad (Telangana). He was Secretary of BTESSC from 2018 to 2021.

  1. ^ Wati Longchar [1] Towards a common strategy and mechanism
  2. ^ Christian Conference of Asia "ETE paper". Archived from the original on 30 October 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2008. Towards a common strategy and mechanism to facilitate theological education and human resource development in south Asia churches
  3. ^ Under Section 2 (f) of the UGC Act, 1956, University means a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act, and includes any such institution as may, in consultation with the University concerned, be recoginsed by the Commission in accordance with the regulations made in this behalf under this Act. The UGC took the opinion that the Senate fell under the purview of Section 2 (f) of the said Act since The Serampore College Act, 1918 was passed by the Government of West Bengal."UGC and Senate of Serampore College (University)". Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  4. ^ The University Grants Commission Act, 1956 Archived 29 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Murli Manohar Joshi, Higher Education in India Vision and Action, A paper presented at the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education in the Twenty First Century, Paris, 5–9 October 1998. Internet, accessed 22 August 2008. "Department of Secondary&Higher Education". Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  6. ^ Wati Longchar, "Challenges for Ecumenical Theological Education : Towards a common strategy and mechanism", [2] Jorhat, 2002, p.2