Bishop Harps On Catholic Education Values

The First Port Harcourt Diocesan Catholic Education Summit has ended with a call on the participants to go home and propagate the values that made Catholic Education the envy of other educational institutions.

The Bishop of the Diocese, Most Reverend Camillus Etokudoh, told the participants that they have been sent out as ambassadors of the church with the task of moulding the leaders of tomorrow.

He explained that the Catholic Education was not only about the establishment of schools, but in the system that makes it a community, whose values are communicated through interpersonal and sincere relationship of its members and through both individual and corporative adherence to the outlook on life that permeates the school.

The Bishop however, pointed out that the absence of grant in-aid to the missions whose schools were returned by the government was a major weakness since there were urgent needs to rebuild such schools and pay the teachers.

He commended his predecessor, Bishop Alexious Makozi for initiating the summit and the Diocesan Education Board for their dedication and hoped that the outcome would go a long way in improving Catholic Education in the Diocese.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Board, Very Reverend Monsignor Charles Agu, thanked the Bishops, speakers and participants assuring that close supervision of schools, workshops and seminars, training and retraining of teachers would be held to improve the standard of teaching in all Catholic Schools.

Meanwhile, operators of mission and private schools have been told to adhere strictly to the Federal Government policy thrust on the Universal Basic Education, UBE.

A clergyman and former Chairman of the State UBE Board, Monsignor Pius Kii gave the advice while delivering a paper at the First Diocesan Education Summit of the Catholic Diocese of Port Harcourt which ended in the state capital today.

Monsignor Kii who spoke on the topic, “the UBE Policy and Secondary School Education in Relation  to the Catholic Policy on Education” said for the vision and mission of the UBE policy to be realised, the government at all levels should provide financial assistance for children who opt for both mission and private schools. While noting that the Catholic Policy on Education also aligns itself to the structural levels of education in the National Policy on Education, Doctor Kii who is also a lecturer with the Catholic Institute of West Africa , CIWA  however urged the church to strengthen its existing pre-primary schools and turn them into early child education as well as separate Junior Secondary Schools from Senior Secondary Schools in order to ensure full compliance.

Monsignor Kii  stressed the need for the church to strengthen the roles of the Parish School Management Committees. to work like School Based Management Committees.