Catholic Bishop of Koforidua urges govt to expedite assent to MOU on management of mission schools

The Catholic Bishop of Koforidua, Most Reverend Joseph Afrifah Agyekum, has called on government to expedite the approval and assent of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) concerning the management and supervision of mission schools.

He says the delay in finalizing the MOU poses a significant threat to inclusivity, essential for providing effective and quality education in the country.

Bishop Afrifah Agyekum made the demands at the Second National Catholic Education Forum ongoing in Koforidua.

“In 1999, the then Hon. Minister of Education, Ekow Spio-Garbrah issued certain directives on management and supervision of schools founded by the missions. Till now we have not had any Government assent to this,” he lamented.

The cleric looks forward to seeing the President Mahama-led government provide solutions to identified challenges.

“Now to some concerns in education delivery in the country as both the government and the missions are looking into for resetting of education delivery in the country. These are: Shortfalls in infrastructure in most of the schools, especially from basic to secondary levels. Financial deficit in the management and administration of schools by the heads, non availability of textbooks, should SHS still be three or four years and abolition of Computer School Placement System,” he stated.

He made other demands- “A Non-negotiable 20% admission of catholic students into SHS, a well-coordinated supply of nourishing food for students, repetition of non-performing students, provision of sick bays with qualified health personnel in all SHS.”

The Catholic Bishops Conference and stakeholders are currently in Koforidua to make contributions to the national education discourse, particularly advocating for inclusivity in educational policies.

Educationist and Economist, Dr Charles Abugre, reiterated the MOU cannot delay further.

“To the government of Ghana, revive and sign the MOU between state and missions in the management of historically mission schools. The Mission schools welcome support not take-over. The Governing Boards are a means to address the balance, allowing government policy oversight whilst a majority Mission representation will ensure effective Mission influence on such matters as the appointment of heads and recruitment of students,” he pointed out.

Dr Abugre called for a 10-year national plan to bridge the resource imbalance gap for technical, vocation and science driven universities.

“Set a 10-year target, through the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) or other, to reverse the resource allocation imbalance favoring technical, vocation and science driven universities. Build on previous government’s good effort in technical education by committing to building/upgrading/expanding at least one TVET centre of excellence in each region during this parliamentary term. Incorporate into these institutions and technical universities new technologies of the future – robotics, e-mobility, green energies. As part of the agenda for agro-industry led transformation, revamp agricultural colleges aiming at, at least one in a region,” he suggested.

The Eastern Regional Minister, Rita Adjei Awatey, reinforced government’s commitment to quality education. “We are also committed to achieving the full objective of the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) and the Free Senior High School policy by prioritising investments in basic education to expand access and improve quality.

“Consequently, we will be reviewing some of the current educational policies and programmes into a more student-teacher friendly policies and programmes to improve learning outcomes especially, the double track system and initiate the ‘Bright Beginnings Initiative’ to revive and repurpose early childhood education for the well-being of Ghanaian children and facilitate seamless integration into continuous schooling and lifelong learning,” she announced.

Mrs Awatey added that, “In addition to the above, our administration from next academic year will initiate some of its reforms in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system to integrate emerging digital skill sets, soft skills, and prioritise the delivery of practical trade skills and entrepreneurial acumen, to develop a critical mass of skilled workforce for the job market.

“Since the government cannot shoulder all the burden of the development of our human capital upon itself, we will extend our collaborative arm to the Church in general to help reset our educational sector as part of the broader Reset Ghana Agenda. At the tertiary level, the Mahama led administration from next academic year will commence the “No-Fees-Stress” policy for disables to alleviate the hardships on parents and students in public tertiary institutions amongst other policies,” the Regional Minister stated.

The Acting Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Ernest Kofi Davis, commended effort of the Catholic Church in contributing to wholistic education.

“The Catholic Church is known for providing wholistic education across all levels of education,” he stressed.

The GES DG sought support in policy direction to sustain funding of the Free Senior High School and curb the alarming indiscipline in Schools.

“Quality is not cheap, quality is expensive. Who bears the cost of quality? Do we leave it to the government alone or it’s time to come in. We have seen the challenges associated with the Free Senior High School, for us to have interventions that work, it’s important for a forum like this one to propose practicable and workable solutions. Indiscipline is on the upsurge, how do we deal with it without using old traditional methods like beating students,” he queried.

Theme for the 2nd National Catholic Education Forum is “Catholic Education for Integral development: Shaping a resilient and inclusive Ghana.