President Nana Akufo -Addo has reiterated his government’s plan to give churches more control in the management of mission schools.
The 1984 take over of the schools, largely placed the administration and management under government.
The churches for some years now have been calling on government to give them more control in some areas, citing issues of indiscipline among others.
The Catholic Bishops Conference and the Christian Council of Ghana have been at the fore front of this demand.Speaking at the graduation ceremony of Trinity College in Accra on Saturday, President Akufo-Addo said he is confident the move to give the churches more control, will improve discipline among students.
“The traditions of discipline, hard-work and integrity that characterize the churches are needed in the country. That is why my government is keen on restoring more control to churches over the missionary schools. I’m glad that many religious groups now seem to want to concentrate on the tertiary sector in the provision of education. The exponential growth in the number of tertiary institutions in the last few years, certainly shows that has been the most popular decision by the churches and others that have gone into the sector.”
The President also appealed to the church to “take a look back at the early childhood sector.”
He recalled that though the church used to be “very active” in the sector, there is currently “obvious great grief” due to neglect.
Gov’t to hand over mission schools – Matthew Opoku Prempeh
The Minister of Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh, had earlier indicated government’s preparedness to hand over mission schools to the churches that originally built and manage many of such schools.
He indicated that, the return of the mission schools to its former owners is a pledge by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that should be fulfilled.
Various religious groups, including the Christian Council of Ghana have for sometime now been calling for the reversal of a 1984 take-over of their schools which was basically set up to provide Christian education.
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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana