MESSAGE OF THE SECOND NATIONAL CATHOLIC EDUCATION FORUM HELD AT THE ST. BAKHITA CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE OF KOFORIDUA 

PREAMBLE

The Catholic Church in Ghana has held her second National Education Forum at the St. Bakhita Catholic Church in the Diocese of Koforidua (Eastern Region), on March 10-15, 2025, under the theme: “Catholic Education for Integral Development: Shaping a Resilient and Inclusive Ghana.” The forum brought together a cross section of all key stakeholders in the educational sector of Ghana: Catholic Bishops, Priests, Consecrated Men and Women, Parents, Educators, Learners, Political and Traditional Leaders, Educational Policymakers, Administrators, Researchers, Representatives of others Faith-based Organisations, Alumni, as well as  Development Partners.

Catholic Education

The raison d’etre of Catholic Education is the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ in which He enjoins us to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to teach (cf. Matthew 28:18-20). Convinced that “All men and women of whatever race, condition or age, in virtue of their dignity as human persons, have an inalienable right to education” (Vatican II, Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum Educationis, 1965, #1), the Catholic Church in Ghana establishes schools as privileged places to foster the formation of the whole person to be conscious of their dignity and the needs of others, as well as competently fulfil their responsibilities towards society with integrity. Currently, across the sixteen regions in Ghana, the Catholic Church has more than 5,453 basic schools; 82 Senior High Schools; 41 TVET Schools; 4 Special Schools; 13 colleges of Education and 10 other Tertiary institutions including Nursing Training Colleges and Universities making it the second largest education provider next to the Government.

Relationship between the Government and Churches in the Management of Mission Schools Collaboration between the State and the Churches in the management of schools dates far back to1852. By this time, while there were several mission schools, the Government of the then British Colony of the Gold Coast did not have schools of its own. So, the Government assisted the Churches to run their schools for the benefit of the citizens.

The Catholic Church acknowledges that education is an onerous task that requires collective effort; and thus, a proper partnership, with well-defined roles, will ensure effective education delivery in the country. She, therefore, looks forward to the streamlining and cementing of this partnership with the State.

Some General Observations made at the Forum

Among the many issues raised and discussed at the forum were the outstanding question of the signing of a Partnership Agreement between the Government and the Missions/Units on the management of education; the side-lining of the General, Regional and Local Managers in the management of mission schools; inadequate religious and moral formation; insufficient attention to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET); little attention to the education of persons who are differently enabled; rise in the cases of indiscipline in schools; examination malpractices; challenges of the existing Free Senior High School Policy; etc.

On the back of our deliberations, we recommend:

1. FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN GHANA THAT:

A. GENERAL

1. We work with other relevant parties (Christian Council of Ghana, Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, Office of the National Chief Imam, Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission Ghana, Conference of Managers of Education Units, etc) to review the draft Memorandum of Understanding to reflect our current position on the management of Mission/Unit schools and to ensure its signing by the Government for implementation from the next academic year – 2025/2026.
2. A committee should be commissioned by the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference to develop a 5-year national strategic framework for Catholic Education by the end of July, 2025.
3. The Office of the Secretary General of the National Catholic Secretariat be tasked to oversee the drafting of the policy recommendations on education to the Government by March 20, 2025.

B. GENERAL, REGIONAL AND LOCAL MANAGERS

4. Our General, Regional and Local Managers and other heads of our Institutions stay more relevant by being more creative, innovative, proactive, and hardworking. They should be well-resourced and given the Church’s support in this direction.
5. The Office of the General Manager of Catholic Education oversees the review of the National Catholic Education Policy (2009) by April 30, 2025.
6. It grants private Mission Schools an exemption from corporate tax, as surplus revenues from such schools are used to provide educational facilities for public Mission Schools, especially, in deprived areas
7. We draw up an effective succession plan including mentorship and regular capacity building for the management of our schools
8. We ensure there are engagements to facilitate the sharing of best practices of our category A-schools and other Catholic schools of excellence worldwide.

C. FAITH FORMATION

9. We strengthen the Catholic identity in our schools at all levels by the teaching of Catholic doctrines, building chapels, increasing the presence of priests and consecrated persons, appointing chaplains to the schools, etc.
10. Parish Priests and their assistants should prioritize non-Catholic schools within the jurisdiction of their parishes as centres of special apostolate and provide their Catholic staff and students with the required pastoral care, and where it is appropriate and permissible transport them from campuses to parishes for Masses.
11. Faith formation should be intensified from the home through pre-school to the tertiary level.
12. We train, equip and resource Catholic personnel with adequate sound Catholic moral and social doctrine to enable them to manage and teach in our schools for the realization of the Church’s mission and vision for education.

D. ASSOCIATIONS

13. We empower the Association of Catholic Heads of Higher Institutions (ACHHI) and Association of Catholic Teachers (ACT) to develop a policy on discipline in our schools, informed by the existing Ghana Education Service (GES) guidelines, for effective alternatives to corporal punishment.
14. We encourage Catholic educators (ACHHI, ACT and COMCEU) to come together to form a recognized body – Catholic Educators and Education Workers Federation – with a collective voice for effective advocacy.

E. TVET

15. The Office of the General Manager of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) explores more effective ways of linking TVET institutions with industry and to generate the interest of industries in TVET.
16. The Office of the General Manager of TVET explores more ways and seeks sponsorship for the training and continuous professional training for teachers in TVET institutions for capacity building in practical training.
17. FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF GHANA THAT:

A. GENERAL

1. It assents to the Memorandum of Understanding that respects the partnership that should exist between the Government and the Missions in the management of schools, pursuant to the Pre-Tertiary Education, Act 2020 (Act 1049), “Faith-based schools shall enter into Memorandum of Understanding with the Education Service for effective and efficient management of faith-based schools” (Art. 4, n. 4).
2. It restores the roles of General, Regional and Local Managers in the management of Catholic Education, i.e. promotion, appointments, posting and effective supervision of personnel to Catholic Schools.
3. It provides the Catholic Church a permanent representation at the Ministerial Advisory Board of Education and the Ghana Education Council, since she is the second largest provider of education in the country.
4. It ensures a more transparent, fair and acceptable system of placement into our Second Cycle Schools.
5. It ensures a minimum of 20% admission of Catholics into Catholic Schools.
6. It sets a 10-year target, through the Ministry of Education (MoE) to reverse the current situation of resource allocation imbalance with the view to favouring technical, vocational and science education in Ghana.
7. It respects the national Education Strategic Plan (2018-2030) of the MoE and protects it from potential partisan manipulations for purely political advantage.

B.   SPECIAL SCHOOLS

8. There should be a more inclusive national education policy which gives a better attention to learners with special needs.
9. There should be adequate and appropriate educational infrastructure and facilities to cater for learners with special needs.
10. There should be a strategy for the adequate recruitment, training and continuous professional training of teachers and administrators of special schools.

C.   TVET

11. It builds on previous governments’ good effort in technical education by committing to the establishment of, at least, one TVET centre of excellence in each region during this parliamentary term.
12. It ensures that new technologies with great future potentials (i.e., robotics, e-mobility, green energies, etc) are incorporated into the curricula of the TVET institutions and Technical Universities.
13. It enhances, re-tools and adequately staffs TVET Institutions.
14. It takes deliberate steps to establish bilateral arrangements with countries with proven TVET programmes – Germany, Singapore, India, China, etc – for teacher training, attachments, and other forms of collaboration.
15. It ensures a more effective support for technical teachers and students to go on industrial internships to gain practical experience.

1. SENIOR HIGH/TECHNICAL SCHOOLS.
2. It reviews the “Double Track System” of Free SHS/SHTS to address the challenges confronting it and puts in place a strategic plan to phase it out within two years.
3. It reviews the Free SHS/SHTS policy to address questions on the respective responsibilities of parents and Government.
4. It pursues its promise of reinstating parents’ responsibility to contribute to their ward’s education and reinstate the Parent-Teacher Association, and so protect the rights of teachers and parents to be represented in the partnership.
5. It sets a “Cut-off Point” for admission to Second Cycle institutions to address fallen academic standards. Meanwhile, it should establish short-term skills-training centres to cater for those who do not qualify for admission to SHS, SHTS or TVETs, as well as a remedial programme for those who may still wish to pursue Second Cycle education.
6. Reinstates the practice of repeating non-performing students in pre-tertiary schools to promote academic excellence.
7. It fulfils its promise of placing private Second Cycle schools under the Free Senior High School Policy and provides them with the funding needed to admit some BECE graduates.

This will ease the current burden on the infrastructure of the public SHS/SHTS and TVETs.

E.  EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE

22. It ensures effective ways of curbing examination malpractice in schools by engaging all stakeholders to seek solutions and ensuring that more deterring punitive measures are put in place to deal with teachers, parents, students, administrators and other officials who engage in such acts.
23. It ensures the required emphasis on Religious and Moral Education as a core subject in Pre-tertiary education in Ghana.

CONCLUSION

The Second National Catholic Education Forum has ended with recommendations for both the Church and the Government following some observations made. This message anticipates two other documents which are to follow soon:

i. Some policy recommendations on education

ii. A 5-year strategic plan for Catholic education in Ghana.

Core to the deliberations was the strong recommendation for the revision and signing of the draft Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and Missions/Units with the former assenting to it. It is hoped that this will see the light of day before the next academic year, 2025/2026.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Phil. 4:8, NIV).

MOST REV. MATTHEW KWASI GYAMFI

CATHOLIC BISHOP OF SUNYANI & PRESIDENT, GHANA CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE

FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2025