On the front page of our Paper, the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is reported to have hinted of his government’s plan to allow Religious Bodies to manage their Schools.
This, for The Catholic Standard, is very heart-warming because the Religious Bodies have for some years now been calling for the return of the management of Schools to their original owners to enable them achieve the objectives for which they were established. This call started in 1961 and intensified since 1986.
Education today is a complex task, which is made more difficult by rapid social, economic, and cultural changes. Whatever be the case, the specific mission of education should always be the integral formation of the human person.
The Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist and Anglican Churches, among others, established Schools during the pre-colonial era as part of their Missionary activities through the inculcation of the Gospel values and for sound moral and intellectual formation.
There have been growing concerns regarding the reduction in the quality of pupils and students being churned out by schools, as compared to the period when these Educational Institutions were under the full administration and management of the Churches.
Mission Schools in the country are noted for imbuing discipline, hard work, honesty and moral integrity in Students which are needed ingredients in any nation’s development.
One can safely say that corruption and indiscipline are more predominant today than the period during which the Schools were in the hands of the Religious Bodies.
The United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights acknowledge the rights of parents to choose the sort of education they want for their children. Under Canon Law, the Church has a responsibility to provide Catholic education if this is requested by parents. Catholic education contributes in a positive way to a pluralist society. It provides a system of schooling that responds to the total educational needs of the young in contemporary society.
In this very secular age, Catholic schools are becoming increasingly popular with people who seek an education based on a clear philosophy and a commitment to offering a faith-based context for understanding the beauty, meaning and complexity of the world.
It is often said that education is what remains after you have forgotten all that you were ever taught in school. A specifically Catholic model of education has developed over the centuries – and remains very popular in most countries, not only because of the quality of its academic records but ethical and moral values that it instills in people.
Indeed, Catholic education starts with the belief that everyone is made in God’s image and likeness and deserves to be enabled to flourish and develop as a child of God. Education is thus not mainly about training in skills and qualifications. It is based on the belief that human beings naturally seek integrity in their lives.
The Catholic Standard is happy that government has decided to continue paying salaries of teachers in Mission Schools after the appropriate Memorandum of Understanding has been signed.
Apart from a more sustained financial assistance to the faith-based schools, one vexing issue at least for the Catholic Church, is that of the engagement of teachers and in particular Heads of Schools. In as much as, a Catholic school may welcome a teacher from other faiths it must be stressed that such staff members support the vision statement, aims and ethos of the school. Without this the Catholic spirit will be lost.
It will be expedient that parents who do want their children to take part in a Catholic Liturgy or to perform actions contrary to his or her religious conviction do not send them to Catholic Schools. Our schools are not just to give academic education but rather give a comprehensive training, formation and transformation of the human being.
For this matter, we call on the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education to take a second look at the selection and placement of students in Senior High Schools. This is to make it possible for parents who do not want their children in a faith-based school to have an option. Parents who choose to send their children to Catholic schools should be aware that the ethos and characteristics of the Catholic faith permeate the life and teaching experience of the school community.
The Catholic Standard believes that a partnership between the Religious Bodies and the State in education if well implemented, would go a long way to help improve the quality of education delivery in the country.
