Deputy Minister calls for church-state collaboration in education

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Deputy Minister of Education, has called for a church-state collaboration to offer quality and affordable education to the people.

He said the role of the church in terms of morality would be felt better in the schools, where the future of the young ones was shaped.

Dr Adutwum made the call on Saturday at the 10th Anniversary celebration and Speech and Prize-Giving Day of the Life International College at Mataheko, near Afienya, in the Greater Accra Region.

It was on the theme: ‘A Decade of Christian Education: Its Impact and Prospects for the 21st Century’’.

Dr Adutwum said the country’s educational history could not be told without mentioning the Christian missionaries who initially set up schools in the castles and forts on the coast, which spread to other parts of the Gold Coast.

He said education was one of the main legacies of the missionaries, a foundation, which many of the country’s top schools boasted of even today.

Dr Adutwum said over the years, government and the church had built a purposeful and meaningful relationship in overseeing the growth of education, adding; “We are proud of the role that the Christian church continues to play in nation-building, including development of schools.”

“Education is an important component of national development, a game-changer in lifting the people out of ignorance and deprivation and providing them with opportunity and promise,” he said.

“We also believe that the education that we give our children must be relevant and responsive to the needs, complexities and challenges of the 21st Century global knowledge economy,” he said.

The Deputy Minister said government was currently pursuing reforms in teacher training, pre-tertiary curriculum, school accountability and inspectorate framework to ensure quality education.

He expressed the hope that the church and the state would collaborate to mould the character of the children into all-round, responsible and morally upright citizens, ready to contribute their quota to nation building.

Mr Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, the Member of Parliament for Tema East, said the prospects of education in the 21st Century starts from the students themselves and urged them to take their studies seriously.

He commended the College for instilling Christian values in the students for the past 10 years and urged parents to compliment the efforts of Management by providing the basic needs of their children.

Mr Anthony Gasu, the Principal of the College, said the College aimed not only to equip the students with academic knowledge but also with the Christ-centered upbringing to be examples to their peers.

He said the College had formed a Life Foundation Club, which inculcated in the students a reason to give back to society, especially to the less-privileged.

Mr Gasu appealed to corporate bodies and philantropists to assist the school to run effectively, especially the refurbishment of the library.

Bishop Dr Gordon Kisseih, the President of the College, said the College had purchased a water treatment plant to help solve the perennial water shortage problem it faced.

He expressed the hope that the College would continue to provide a Christ-centred quality and affordable education at all times.