RESOLVING THE CONTROVERSY OVER RME

THE Christian Council of Ghana has added its voice to the call made by the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference for the reintroduction of Religious and Moral Education (RME) in the curriculum for schools in the new educational reform.
The Catholic Bishops had, in a communiqué issued at the end of their conference, asked the educational authorities to reintroduce RME into the curriculum as a way of stemming the moral and behavioural decadence that has engulfed the country.
Explaining the position of the Catholic Church letter, the Archbishop of Accra, the Most Reverend Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, said the church was only asking for the reintroduction of RME in the curriculum to ensure the proper character formation of the youth.
Meanwhile, in its explanation as to why RME was taken off the school curriculum, the Ghana Education Service (GES) said one of the objectives of the educational review was to reduce the number of subjects studied at the basic education level. Consequently, it was thought prudent to take off RME and, instead, put aspects of the subject in other subjects such as Social Studies.
We must say that the issues raised by both the Catholic Bishops and the GES are relevant and so the issue as to whether RME should be reintroduced or not cannot be determined unilaterally.
Certainly the question of the proper moral training of our youth cannot be discounted in the present system of education when almost on a daily basis one infraction or another is committed by our youth.
But it would be wrong, without any scientific research to that effect, to put the upsurge in moral decadence at the doorstep of the educational system because pupils no longer study RME. If we do that, then we will be begging the question.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is of the view that the study of RME in all schools, while it may inculcate in the pupils moral uprightness, can itself engender controversy in some areas.
Let us all remember and bear in mind that Ghana, as a secular country, has not got a uniform religious policy. Therefore, if the mission schools arrogate it to themselves to teach the religions they profess to in those schools, it would seem as if only adherents of those religions would attend those schools.
Many instances abound in the country where strange doctrines have been rammed down the throats of innocent pupils and students for the crime of being in the ‘wrong’ schools.
While it is obvious, as the Most Rev Palmer-Buckle indicates, that the mission schools are noted for their discipline and proper training of the youth, we must not forget that the family is the most important unit of society where proper upbringing could begin and gradually permeate the rest of society.
Thus the DAILY GRAPHIC believes that even as this “great controversy” rages on, parents should ensure the proper upbringing of their children right from the home so that the children will grow up knowing what is good and bad.
The churches which are so concerned about moral decadence must also step up efforts to “train the children the way they should go”, so that they will complement the efforts of parents.
By all means the concerns raised by the Catholic Bishops should be looked at critically, but, as the Ghana Conference of Religions for Peace has noted, “... consultation and dialogue with the various stakeholders” is the way out of this impasse.
The DAILY GRAPHIC expects fruitful discussions leading to compromises and respect of one another’s views as all the interest groups sit down to resolve the issue.