By Jose Kavi

New Delhi, Jan 28, 2026: Jesuit Father Thomas V Kunnunkal, the founding chairperson of the largest open school in the world and former chairman of India’s Central Board of Secondary Education, died on January 28.

The death occurred at 8:46 pm at the Jesuit Residence attached to St Xavier’s School in Delhi’s Civil Lines, said Jesuit Father Augustine Perumali, the rector. Father Kunnunkal would have turned 100 on July 3 this year.

According to Father Perumalil, the funeral will be at 3 pm on January 30. His body will be kept in the school’s Millennium Hall from I pm on that day for the public to pay respects.

The Indian government awarded Father Kunnunkal Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award, in 1974, in recognition of his contribution to the education sector.

He served as the principal of Delhi St Xavier’s School twice and was invited by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to head the Central Board of Secondary Education, now the gold standard for school education in India. He led the board during 1980-1987.

He also helped found the National Open School in November 1989 as an autonomous organization in pursuance of the National Policy on Education 1986 by the federal Ministry of Education. He was the first chairperson of the organization, now christened the National Institute of Open Schooling. He held the post until 1992.

He had served two federal government commissions — National Commission for Teachers and National Commission for Review of National Education Policy.

He had served as the director of Jesuit-managed Indian Social Institute in New Delhi, and the president of the Islamic Studies Association, a non-governmental organization promoting religious harmony.

Father Kunnunkal was born on July 3, 1926, in Alappuzha, a coastal town in the southern Indian state of Kerala. After schooling, he joined the Jesuits on June 20, 1945. He studies masters in English and Educational Administration and Educational Measurement in the United States. He was ordained a priest on June 18, 1958, at West Barden, the United States where he studied theology.

He started his career as the principal of Delhi St. Xavier’s during 1962-1974 and 1977-1979. One of his students (1969 batch) was Arun Jaitely (1952-2019), who was minister of Finance, Defence, Corporate Affairs, Commerce and Industry, and Law and Justice in both the Vajpayee and Modi governments.

He was associated with the Jesuit Education Association of India which controls 101 high schools and 25 colleges in India. He was its president and the general secretary on different tenures.

He had published a book, The Role of Teachers in National Regeneration, which was released in 2005.

The Indian government selected him as an honorary fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, an intergovernmental organization under the Commonwealth Heads of Government, which promotes education, in 2006.

4 Comments

  1. Respectful farewell to Fr Tom. Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let your perpetual light shine upon the departed soul.

  2. R.I.P , the father Kunnunkal .

  3. He was a big supporter of
    the vision of neighborhood-based interreligious dialogue of life, love and action through Basic Human Communities or Neighbourhood Parliaments. We at the movement for governance- from-below through neighbourocracy celebrate his contribution. .

  4. A great Jesuit! I admire his tremendous contribution to the development and prosperity of our country.

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