UWTTC

Brief History of the Institution

Ursuline Women’s Teachers’ Training College, Lohardaga is established, run and managed by the Ranchi Ursuline Society, which is registered under the Registration of Societies Act XXI of 1860, No. 77 of 1957-1958. It is a Christian religious minority institution established and administered according to the provisions of Article - 30 of the Constitution of India. The institution is situated in the tribal belt of Jharkhand. It focuses on empowerment of young women. It was established in the year 1971 and was affiliated to Ranchi University in 1981 by undivided Bihar Government. It is recognized by National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) Bhubaneswar with an intake of 100 seats and is accredited with B⁺⁺ Grade (4rd Cycle) by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in the year 2023. Since its establishment it consistently upheld its mission of empowering women through quality teacher education. The Institution has been a beacon of academic excellence and holistic development in teacher education.Over the years, the B.Ed. program of the college has earned a distinguished reputation for producing highly competent and committed teachers. A consistent academic success of its students is agreat pride for the institution. Many B.Ed. students from the college have secured gold medals and top ranks in the university examinations, reflecting the dedication of both the students and faculty members. Many students qualified CTET, JTET, NET and are teaching in the different government schools. The commitment of staff to academic rigor, value-based education, and professional training continues to shape future teachers for the society.
The M.Ed. program started in the year 2018 with the intake of 50 seats. Since the inception of the M.Ed. program, the department has witnessed remarkable academic accomplishments. Many students have demonstrated outstanding excellence by securing Gold Medal and achieving top ranks in the Ranchi University examinations. Several students have also successfully qualified national-level competitive examinations such as the UGC-NET and JRF, SRF showcasing their academic competence and dedication for research and higher education. These achievements reflect the commitment of both students and faculty members towards academic excellence and professional growth. Indeed it has added a substantial quality in the field of education since its existence.
Ursuline Women’s Teachers’ Training College, Lohardaga, has consistently upheld its reputation for academic excellence in the field of teacher education. Over the 55 years, the college has produced manygold Medalistsanduniversity toppersin both B.Ed. and M.Ed. programme.
The Institution blends a rich history (established in 1971), top-ranked student performance, dedicated faculty, and state-of-the-art infrastructure to foster excellence in teacher education. This enduring legacy has made it one of Jharkhand’s most trusted institutions for aspiring young women teacher.

Fr. John Cornelius Martin Lambertz

(Founder of the Ursuline Sisters of the Congregation of Tildonk)

Fr. J. C. lambertz was born at Hoogstraten in Belgium on February 8th, 1785. In response to God’s call he left behind his successful career of a Chemist and became the Parish Priest of Tildonk. At that time Tildonk was in a state of spiritual destitution. With the help of three generous young women he began educating children, especially girls, believing that they in turn would change their families and renew the face of the Church and the society at large. The little group of Sisters increased in number and a Religious Congregation was born. They were given the Constitutions of the Ursuline of Bordeaux, France, who were founded by St. Angela Merici. Fr. John Lambertz called his Sisters “Daughters of St. Ursula” which started in Tildonk, Belgium on 30th April 1818. Thus, today we are called the Ursuline Sisters of the Congregation of Tildonk. The four Ursuline Missionaries namely Mother Gonzaga, the Superior, Mother Anthony, Mother Ursula and Sister Sabina arrived to India in the year 1903. These missionaries started education apostolate for the girls because that was the need of the hour. Thus Schools for the girls spread out in far and wide in the most remote areas of the State Jharkhand. The Primary Teachers’ Training College was shifted to Lohardagain 1966 which existed in Ursuline Convent Ranchi from 1912. Realizing the urgent need of higher education for women the congregation established the Ursuline women’s teachers training Institution in Lohardaga in 1971. The Institution enables the students to become integrated persons, and torchbearers of future generation, face the challenges of life, recognize the human dignity and contribute to the building up of the nation.

St. Angela Merici

Angela Merici was born about 1474 in Desenzanodel Garda, in a house just below the castle. Her father, Giovanni, belonged to an impoverished branch of the lesser Brescian nobility. Her mother, Caterina de Bianchi, was from Salo. The family did not wait long before moving to Le Grezze, a little out from the town, where the three boys and two girls grew up in the freedom of the countryside, playing and working, but also coping with the monotony of the daily routine of the farm. The children’s mistakes, pranks and disobedience often caused damage to neighbours’ fields and also led to fines from the rural wardens. To such an extent that, at the sudden death of her elder sister, Angela feared for her eternal salvation. But a vision reassured her: her sister was in heaven. About the same time Angela also lost her parents. Her uncle Biancoso de Bianchi welcomed her, and her younger brother, to his house at Salo. Angela did not take advantage of the easy life which was offered her there; quite the reverse, she became a Franciscan tertiary to follow Jesus Christ more closely, to be able to receive the sacraments more often and to justify to others the austere and penitential life she led. From then on, she was ‘Suor Angela’ to everyone.After a few years she returned to Desenzano and took up her daily life: church, home, fields, charitable works. One day, at noon, at harvest time, she had a vision a ladder between heaven and earth: a prophetic intuition of the company of virgins that she would one day establish in the Church. In 1516 her Franciscan superiors sent her to Brescia, to Lady CaterinaPatengola who had lost her husband and two sons. Angela then began a mission of comfort and counsel which grew little by little to embrace all those who had recourse to her, to her prayers, to her mediation or to her peacemaking. When Lady Caterina began to resume her life, Angela left the Patengola home to go and live with Antonio Romano, a young merchant with no family. We know from him that Angela went to Mantua to pray at the tomb of Blessed Osanna, then to the Sacro Monte at Varallo, and that she even undertook (in 1524) a pilgrimage to the Holy Land: more than six months full of risks and dangers of all sorts, pirates, brigands and storms among other things. After that she went to Rome for the Jubilee of 1525. In 1529, in the face of the threat of a military invasion, she agreed to take refuge in Cremona with Agostino Gallo, a Brescian agricultural engineer, with his family and several others. She met there, in exile, courtiers of Francesco Sforza, the Duke of Milan who had wanted to make her acquaintance during a stay in Brescia and who had recommended himself to her prayers. From the time of her return to Brescia, she devoted herself to the work of God. Women of that time had no freedom of choice whatsoever regarding their future; the family decided; for marriage (especially if she was poor) or for the monastery (especially if she was rich). Angela, moved by the Holy Spirit and confident in women’s own capability, established another state of life which later became canonical: that of virgins living in the world as spouses of the Son of God and called to spiritual motherhood. The fact of freely choosing this state of life constituted a big step in the advancement of women. Without being linked by a common activity, the members would nevertheless not be isolated; they belonged to a real spiritual family supported by a Rule and placed under the patronage of a virgin martyr.On 25 November 1535, Angela Merici formally founded the Company of St. Ursula, named after a virgin martyr, with a Rule to guide its members. She is the first woman who started the company of virgins outside the monastery. AngelaMerici died on 27th January 1540 in Brescia; her body now rests in the sanctuary dedicated to her.After her death, her daughters very quickly found themselves engaged in the schools of Christian doctrine; later they would teach reading and writing too. In Italy several bishops established Companies of St Ursula; but in France the Companies became religious communities. These later spread into every continent, educating girls in boarding schools and in free day schools. The following centuries saw many other congregations of Ursuline religious come to birth, all of whom recognised St. Angela as their Mother. St. Angela Merici was canonised on 24 May 1807. Today, she is venerated throughout the world for her pioneering role in women’s spiritual formation and education, and for founding the Company of St. Ursula spread in its secular form and to the development of the different Institutes of Ursuline religious.