By Doreen Darko and Angela Ofosu Boateng
Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie, CSSp, Episcopal Chairman for Education at the National Catholic Secretariat, has lauded government’s decision to return Mission Schools to the Religious Bodies, saying that it was a recognition of their contribution to quality education delivery.
“I think this is a recognition by government that the Religious Bodies are able partners in the agenda of government for a better quality of education in our country”, he stressed.
Bishop Kwofie said this in response to a questionnaire sent to him by The Catholic Standard. It will be recalled that in the Wednesday, May 17, 2017 issue of the Daily Graphic, the Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, was reported to have said that “The government will soon return the management and supervision of Mission Schools to Religious Bodies”.
Though the details of this intended arrangement were not given, the Minister however hinted that “government would continue to pay salaries of teachers in Mission Schools after the appropriate contract had been signed between the government and religious bodies”.
Bishop Kwofie who is the Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese, said the Church’s calls for the return of the Mission Schools was for it to realise the goals and purposes for which they were established, calling for an educational partnership agreement between the government and the Religious Bodies to facilitate the attainment of these goals and purposes.
He said though it was the responsibility of the State to provide education for its peoples, the Church continues to partner with government in educating the human assets of the State, since the human capital form the basic resource for better or for worse for the country.
He therefore stressed the need for a Memorandum of Understanding between the government and the Religious Bodies that has been frozen for so long for the management of Schools established by them.
On the Church’s preparedness to manage its Schools, Bishop Kwofie said it had always and would continue to rely on voluntary services of its faithful who considered their service as their contribution to the evangelization mission of the Church.
The Bishop said the Church was ever ready and prepared to manage its Schools because of the already existing supervisory and management structures it had put in place to facilitate the management and supervision of the Schools.
He cited as an example the role of Local Managers in enforcing discipline as a formative measure where it is due and help in the religious and moral formation of the students.
Bishop Kwofie said the roles of various stakeholders; the family, the State and Church in the education of the Ghanaian child “needs to be constantly evaluated so that the training and formation of the child will be a concerted effort of all stakeholders”.
He added that to achieve quality education, there was the need to improve on the working conditions of Teachers and provide a favourable ambience for them to perform their duties.
On how the Church would fund infrastructural and other needs of their Schools, the Bishop said as the Church seeks to make education available and accessible to the citizenry, it expected the Government as a matter of justice to financially support the Schools with basic infrastructure such as good classrooms, Science Laboratories, Libraries and Refectory.
Asked whether the return of Schools to the Missions would help improve the quality of Education in the Schools, Bishop Kwofie said “improving on the quality of education will not come about overnight or like a miracle. We need basic infrastructure, trained and dedicated academic staff and students who are committed to their academic project”.
Meanwhile, a total of 468,053 candidates sat for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) which ended on Friday across the country.
Some of the pupils who were pregnant, nursing mothers and physically-challenged defied all odds to sit their examination. Five pregnant girls and two nursing mothers were among 93,570 candidates who sat for Examinations in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality of the Ashanti Region.
The Deputy Minister for Health, Tina Naa Ayeley Mensah, on one of the rounds commended a pregnant pupil who sat for the Examinations at New Gbawe Experimental School near Accra for her confidence.
