Return mission schools to churches - Presby Moderator

The Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) has called on the government to return faith-based schools to the churches and other faith-based groups.

The PCG said that would give the churches and the faith-based groups the freedom to carry out their mission as instruments for the inculcation of high moral and ethical values in students.

According to the church, the classification of faith-based schools as secular institutions had prevented the schools from building the right values in their students.

Making the call at the centenary celebration of the Children’s Service Ministry of the PCG in Accra last Sunday, the Moderator of the church, Rt Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, said it was inappropriate to classify faith-based schools as secular, adding that “secular” was a contradiction of “faith-based”.

“So I wish to beg all future governments to respect the history of education in this country and move beyond what I call the binary understanding of the social space in terms of public and private,” he added.

The centenary celebration, which took place at the Ebenezer Congregation at Osu in Accra, was dubbed: “100 Years of Children's Service and Beyond: Christ Our Example".

The occasion was marked by drama and musical performances and poetry recitals by the children.

Child upbringing

Rt Rev. Prof. Mante said training children comprised intellectual, the heart, spiritual and moral upbringing, in line with the Presbyterian education philosophy.

According to him, the church, civil society organisations and the home must all be involved in the training of the child, and, therefore, advised parents not to relinquish their duty as trainers of children to teachers.

“In the current hi-tech world controlled mostly by digital media, the content of some of the things that our children see on social media cannot be trusted and so we have to be very much alert as parents by having a digital mentality and a digital approach to parenting,” he added.

Investment

The President of the National Children’s Service Teachers’ Fellowship of the PCG, Mr Stephen Forkuor Kwarteng, also urged parents to invest more in the upbringing of their children to enable the children to attain their full potential.

He encouraged parents to inculcate Godly values in their children to deter them from engaging in social vices.

According to him, the service would consciously develop children into church leaders, adding: “It is obvious that children are the leaders of the church tomorrow.

In view of this, we will create more opportunities for them to lead in some activities in the church.”

Background

The Children’s Service was started in 1921 by the Ebenezer Congregation in the Ga Presbytery through the collaborative effort of some of the congregants.

Based on the success of the experiment, the church adopted it as a classified group, paving the way for it to be formed in its other congregations across the country.

The service has since made progress, particularly in the training of teachers, the publication of its manual worship guide, among others.