Navrongo, (UE), April 18, GNA - Mr Robert Ajene, a retired educationist at the weekend called on Government and Religious Bodies to strengthen their partnership and collaboration in promoting education. He made the call when he delivered a talk on the topic "The Relevance of the Church in Contemporary Education Delivery" during the 29th Annual National Conference of the Association of Heads of Catholic Higher Institutions in Navrongo, Upper East Region. He expressed his concern about the instances where Government implemented educational programmes and policies without consulting and collaborating with Religious bodies and other stakeholders in education.

He cited an example of the Government implementing the Free Compulsory Basic Education (FCUBE) Programme and the elimination of the teaching of Religious and moral education in schools. He noted that the Catholic Church was the first mission to open formal education in the North which was met with challenges by the colonial Government that resisted the establishment of formal education, hence formal education was limited. Mr. Ajene noted that the north would have benefited a lot from education if the Catholic Missionaries were given the chance by the colonial masters to establish more schools in the area. He indicated that the Catholic Church had played a significant role in the educational system of the country, saying many of the schools in the country were built by the Catholic Church. Discipline he noted was the hallmark of catholic schools and that was why majority of the products of those schools were disciplined and also excell in the academic field.

Mr Ajene mentioned some of the challenges facing the educational front as the lack of trained teachers, sidelining of Religious Bodies and other stakeholders by the Government on Education policies. He appealed to Government to collaborate with religious bodies and other stakeholders in education to build more training colleges to train more teachers for schools. He appealed to Government to consult with Regional Managers of Catholic Schools before posting teachers to the various schools.