The Catholic Bishops’ Conference has urged government to protect the Ministry of Education’s National Education Strategic Plan of 2018-2030 from potential partisan manipulation.
They stressed that respecting and upholding the strategic plan is crucial to ensuring the provision of inclusive, quality education and equitable access for all.
The President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Reverend Matthew Gyamfi, emphasised this and suggested other reforms at the just-ended National Catholic Education Forum in Koforidua.
“Respect the National Education Strategic Plan (2018-2030) of the MoE and protect it from potential partisan manipulations for purely political advantage.”
“Assent to the Memorandum of Understanding that respects the partnership that should exist between government and the Missions in the management of schools, pursuant to the Pre-Tertiary Act 2020 (Act 1049), “Faith-based schools shall enter into Memorandum of Understanding with the Education Service for effective and efficient management of faith-based schools” (Act4, n4),” he reiterated.
On the Free Senior High School Policy, the Catholic Bishop Conference urged government to review it.
“Review the Free SHS policy to address questions on the responsibilities of parents and government. Set a “Cut-off Point” for the purposes of admission to second cycle institutions to address fallen academic standards. Meanwhile, there should be the establishment of short-term skills-training programmes to cater for those who do not qualify for admission to SHS, SHTS or TVETs or a remedial programme for those who may wish to pursue second cycle education. Reinstate the practice of the repetition of non-performing students in pre-tertiary schools to promote academic excellence.
“Invest more in TVET” set a 10-year target, through the Ministry of Education (MoE) to reverse the current situation of resource allocation imbalance with the view to favouring technical, vocational and science education in Ghana,” they proposed.
The Bishop Conference also reiterated the need to put private schools on the FSHS policy “fulfil commitment to placing private secondary schools under the Free Senior High School Policy (FSHS) and provide them the funding needed for them to admit some BECE graduates. This eases the burden on the infrastructure of SHS and TVETS because of Free SHS Policy.”
Currently, across the sixteen regions in Ghana, the Catholic Church has more than 5,453 basic schools; 82 Senior High Schools; 41 TVET Schools; 4 Special Schools; 13 colleges of Education and 10 other Tertiary institutions including Nursing Training Colleges and universities.
The Bishop Conference justified why it must be provided a permanent representation on the Ministerial Advisory Board of Education and the Ghana Education Council, since it is the second largest provider of education in the country and demanded a minimum of 20% admission of Catholics into Catholic Schools.
The Second National Catholic Education Forum was on the theme, theme: Catholic Education for Integral Development: Shaping a Resilient and Inclusive Ghana.
