Providing quality education: Catholic Church urges engagement with religious bodies, alumni
The Auxiliary Bishop of Accra Archdiocese of the Catholic Church, Most Rev. Dr John Kobina Louis, has urged the government, the Ministry of Education (M0E) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to foster genuine stakeholders’ consultations with religious bodies and all stakeholders to help improve education in the country.
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He said given the dynamics and cost of providing quality education, the government and its agencies could not do it all thus the need to create those broad consultations with the religious bodies who have set up schools such as the Catholic Church, Presbyterian Church and other religious bodies, traditional leaders, associations of teachers, parents and alumni for their input which will inure to the benefit of education.
Most Rev. Louis was speaking at the public lecture organised by the St Augustine’s Past Students Association (APSU) as part of activities for the 90th anniversary celebration and also to commemorate the 2024 Feast of St Augustine.
Lecture
The public lecture held at the Christ the King Parish Hall in Accra last Wednesday evening was themed: “Role of alumni as stakeholders in enhancing quality education; A Case Study of APSU over the last 90 years”.
It was addressed by a former Headmaster of St Augustine’s College, Joseph Connel, who is also a 1979 past student of the school, as the main lecture speaker.
The event was attended by scores of alumni of St Augustine’s College including, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, a 1988 past student, who chaired the occasion; the Global President of APSU, Dr Anthony Osei and many others.
Most Rev. Louis, a member of the 1983 year group, spoke on the topic: “The Catholic Church’s Position on Enhancement of Quality Education in Ghana”.
He indicated that there should be a consensus-building among all stakeholders on a general concept of quality education for all schools in Ghana and called on the government and its associate agencies in the educational sector to recognise that churches which had provided the structures for school had an equal stake in its management and thus must be given adequate space in the consultation processes for quality education.
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“For instance, the Catholic Church should be given adequate space to implement her concept of quality education in her schools. In this respect, the Catholic Church should be given more room to train and appoint staff and management for its schools.”
“Furthermore, Catholic students should be given the priority for admissions to Catholic schools, and should apply to other faith-based schools.”
Most Rev. Louis also stated that the government and its agencies must formally acknowledge the contributions of alumni bodies in the development of various schools, given how much they were contributing to improving facilities in their former schools.
Role of alumni
The Guest Speaker, Joseph Connel, in his lecture, lauded APSU for their commitment at addressing various challenges the school has faced over the years. He underscored that the role of alumni could not be underestimated in the success and growth of the school.
He indicated that provision of holistic education required a lot of consumables and other equipment, in addition to the availability of the physical infrastructure which has faced challenges in raising funds for them to meet demand.
“At the request of College Leadership or out of their own volition, many individual APSUnians and APSU groups have supplied science laboratory equipment, computers and printers, sports equipment and kits, musical instruments, cadet uniforms and kits, medicines for infirmary, photocopier machines and other facilities for administrative works, various forms of light and lighting systems, beds for dormitories and desks for classrooms,” he said.
He called on APSU to continue to offer mentorship to current students to help shape their lives and future to the benefit of St Augustine’s College and the country at large, aside from the many social intervention programmes it embarks on every year.
Appeal
In his remarks as the Chairman of the occasion, Dr Ashigbey appealed to members of APSU to “continue to attract more investment from alumni into our schools and create opportunities for our alumni to give back, share their expertise, and mentor our current students”.
He urged APSU to embrace the spirit of St Augustine, who believed in the power of community and collaboration.
“Let us work together to create an environment where every alumnus feels valued, recognised and motivated to contribute to the growth of our institution,” Dr Ashigbey stated.