Allow Religious Bodies To Manage Mission Schools

The President of the Volta chapter of the Conference of Managers of Educational Units (COMEU), Rev. Gabriel Senanu has urged government to allow the religious bodies to manage the mission schools. He noted that the recent agitations by religious bodies to take back the management of mission schools should be a cause for concern to the government. Rev. Senanu said this at a send off party organized by Volta COMEU for Mr. Ebenezer Dzikunu, the former Regional Manager of the E.P. Educational Unit. Rev. Senanu, who is also a Presiding Elder of the AME Zion Church, said the disinterest in the establishment of Public-Mission Schools of late, is as a result of the lack of trust in the partnership agreement between the Religious bodies and the Ghana Education Service. He said the absence of clear policy guidelines on the role of the educational unit�s managers in the decentralization programme of the GES, compounded by the strained working relationship between some GES officials, especially the District/Municipal Directors of Education and the Regional Managers was not helping the cause. Rev. Senanu appealed to the government, as a matter of urgency, to come to the negotiation table to address the unfortunate developments, saying that, �education is a shared responsibility therefore all stakeholders must be involved in the policy formulation and implementation�. The Rev Minister was full of gratitude to Mr. Dzikunu for his immense contributions in strengthening Volta COMEU. He appealed to the National Executive of COMEU to stand strong in dealing with the challenges facing the association in the educational sector. Mr. Ebenezer Dzikunu, who had served 40 years with the Ghana Education Service before retiring, expressed his appreciation to the Volta COMEU for the honour done him. He urged the Regional Managers to remain focus and united to the ideals and values for which the educational units are noted for. Mr. Dzikunu said the history of educational development in the country could be traced back to the Religious Missions, which played pioneering roles and contributed to education in the country. He however said �it is regrettable that some stakeholders regard the educational units, which represent the Religious Bodies as a nuisance, and that, various policy decisions are being made to cancel their management role in the education industry.