Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
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| Rt. Rev. Paul Njiru Kariuki, chairman of the Commission for Education and Religious Education of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) |
In a just concluded four-day conference for the Catholic Private Educational Institutions Association (CaPEIA) in Kenya, teachers have been encouraged to provide education that allows learners to be analytical and to enhance Catholic identity in schools.
“We need to provide education which teaches critical thinking and encourages the development of moral values in learners,” chairman of the Commission for Education and Religious Education of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Bishop Paul Njiru Kariuki said on Tuesday, March 10, while addressing about 600 teachers drawn from Catholic private educational institutions within Kenya.
“Pay greater attention to Catholic identity and spiritual formation of all learners, teachers and staff,” the Bishop continued, “Catholic schools educate the whole child academically, spiritually, physically and emotionally.”
For learners to think critically, Rt. Rev. Kariuki reminded the delegates who comprised of Religious men and women, the clergy and the laity that they need to instill in students the values of respect and integrity.
He said these values can be impacted by “treating all learners with respect and dignity, accepting the differences in their abilities and supporting them to achieve to their maximum potential.”
The conference held under the theme Catholic Schools – Agents of Values based Education, has been inspired by Titus 2:1 which says “You must teach what agrees with sound doctrine.’’
Bishop Kariuki who is the Prelate of Embu Diocese stressed that education must be value based for the students to experience holistic education.
“Values-based education calls on us to ensure that all the teaching and learning in our educational institutions is strengthened with the Gospel and human values,” the prelate said stating quoting Galatians 5:22-26 which outline values such as “love, joy, peace, kindness, faithfulness, patience, gentleness, self –control, and forgiveness.”
He told teachers that when learners are well molded in Catholic ethos, it gives them an opportunity to understand their faith and develop confidence.
“Catholic and spiritual formation gives learners a chance to understand the beliefs, purposes, issues and practices of Catholic faith for their spiritual transformation and character development,” Bishop Kariuki said and added, “This is what gives the learners confidence to make informed choices while they are still in school and well into their future.”
He made reference to Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) where learners need to do practical learning rather than focusing mainly on what they are expected to memorize to emphasize values as one of the pillars for the Catholic schools.
“The Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) highlights 8 values, namely love, peace, unity, responsibility, respect, integrity, patriotism, social justice and fairness, are similar to the Gospel and human values cited above. Values are one of the pillars of CBC,” Bishop Kariuki insisted.
Besides, he also acknowledged that even non-Catholics have confidence in Catholic schools because of the character formation of learners and hence emphasized that teachers need to instill these to students.
“I am aware that a high percentage of learners in our Catholic Educational institutions are from non-Catholic background. This is because their parent (and) guardian places a lot of worth on academic excellence of a Catholic school and character formation, the respect shown in our schools for beliefs, values and a higher sense of purpose,” he said and continued, “As leaders you must live to these expectations.”
The sixth CaPEIA conference which concluded on Friday, March 13, brought together delegates from pre-primary, primary, secondary private schools, education officers and religious education advisors.