By Michael Kofi Kenetey
The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference and the Bishop of the Sunyani Catholic Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, Most Rev. Mathew Kwasi Gyamfi, has called for a review of the Free Senior High School policy to help promote academic excellence.
He reiterated that a cut-off point should be introduced into the policy to help promote the quality of education in the second cycle institutions. The call was part of proposals that came out at the end of the Second National Catholic Education Forum in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional capital.
The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, Most Rev. Mathew Kwasi Gyamfi, presenting the synopsis which will be presented to the Ministry of Education, bemoaned how indiscipline and examination malpractices are becoming rampant in schools, which they called on the government to address as a matter of urgency.
He suggested that repetition of non-performing students at the pre-tertiary level should be brought back into the country’s educational system to help promote academic excellence in schools.
Most Rev. Kwasi Gyamfi called for the need to create linkage between industry and Technical and Vocational Education and training (TVET) institutions and urged the government to establish at least one TVET centre of excellence in every region in the country.
Most Rev. Kwasi Gyamfi, giving the homily, urged Ghanaians to reset their lives, create a new community and country, and eschew corruption, wickedness, greediness, and selfishness.
He lamented how Ghanaians, through illegal mining, are destroying the forest reserves, water resources and the environment that God has given to humans to protect and preserve them.
The Catholic Church serves as the second-largest education provider next to the government in the country, hence the need for the forum to suggest creative, innovative and dynamic ideas to the government in helping to promote educational excellence in the country.
The five-day forum, which was on the theme “Catholic Education for Integral Development, Shaping a Resilient and an Inclusive Ghana”, is also aimed at engaging in profound dialogue on the vital role of ethics, values, and sustainability within the educational framework and ensuring that the moral dimension of education is nurtured and upheld.
Furthermore, the forum seeks to create a dynamic platform for the exchange of knowledge, experiences, and expertise in the education sector and to evaluate the performance of the Catholic Church in the provision of education in Ghana with regard to the vision and mission of her education unit, among others.
