The Government has been called upon to revisit its partnership agreement under the Education Ordinance of 1852 to support the missions with grants to run their educational institutions.
Reverend Monica A. Achana, the Upper West Regional Manager of the Methodist Education Unit, who made the call in Wa, observed that though there were mission schools, the Government was not providing any support for their effective operation.
“It is a fact that religious bodies cannot be sidelined if we want quality education delivery in the country,” she said during the Methodist Education Week celebration in Wa at the weekend.
Rev. Achana called for effective teamwork and cooperation among stakeholders in the education sector if the desired results were to be achieved.
The Methodist Education Week is an annual event of the Methodist Church of Ghana to create awareness of its active role in quality education delivery for the people of Ghana.
It was also to appreciate the support of parents, teachers and other stakeholders of the Church in providing holistic education with high moral standards for children in the country.
Quiz competitions and games among the students as well as clean-up exercises at the Wa Naa’s Palace were some of the activities that marked the week-long celebration.
Rev. Achana explained that apart from the preaching of the gospel of salvation, the Church also deemed it necessary to provide formal education to the people, hence the establishment of educational institutions in the country.
She indicated that the poor collaboration between the Directors of Education and the Mission Education Unit Managers had made the work of the managers very difficult, leading to poor performances of the school children.
“The work done by directors is not the same as that of the unit managers. We call on the Government to strengthen the partnership so that we can boast of our education as it used to be,” she said.
“Anyone that attended a mission school was offered a different character that society admires, but today because the structures are loose and they are no longer controlled by the missions, the story is different, a lot of ill activities are being carried out in schools.”
Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV, the Overlord of the Wala Traditional Council, commended the Methodist Church for contributing to the development of the region, especially in the education sector.
He lauded the Methodist Education Unit for taking the initiative to clean the palace and said that was worth emulating as no unit had ever done that.
Naa Pelpuo pledged the support of the Traditional Area to the Church in the pursuit of its developmental agenda.
Source: Ghana News Agency