Y. Maurice Martin

C K C  TIKO

          The Catholic Schools,

 

And Fr Keze’s Vision as Education Secretary

The Catholic school has as its specific mission and duty in the Christian formation of its pupils within a community of faith.  The school is a special place where the subjects taught enable the student to assimilate skills, knowledge, intellectual methods and moral and social attitudes.

 

Quality Christian education demands constant self-criticism and renewal which will ensure a clear catholic identity for the school.

 

Collaboration by parents, teachers and students is essential to maintaining faithfulness to the school's mission.

 

  

Teachers in Catholic Schools

 

All teachers in a Catholic school require knowledge and understanding of the Gospel and the Catholic Tradition to enable them to implement an educational philosophy which seeks to harmonize faith, culture and life.

Teachers in Catholic schools support through their teaching and example the efforts of the school to harmonize faith, culture and life.  This requires of them particular knowledge and skills for the purposes of Accreditation.

Teachers of Religion in Catholic schools require additional professional competence in scripture, theology and religious education theory and practice.

To be employed in a Catholic school, a teacher must have a full mastery of the system and must have the necessary certification of being eligibility for such registration.

 

The system of teacher registration ensures that standards of entry into the profession are protected and that only qualified teachers are licensed to practice in catholic  schools, since teaching requires the application of a special fund of knowledge and a range of skills that distinguish it as a profession.

 

 Catholic School Renewal

 

A Self Renewing Catholic School engages in processes and procedures by which the school community and others continually look closely at the school's purposes and performance. This requires the nurturing of a school climate that will enable positive change and growth to be experienced by the school community. Parents are  involved in all aspects of the renewal process.

The Catholic School Renewal Policy in Cameroon ( Particularly in Buea Diocese) allows flexibility for a school to respond to its implementation according to the school's local context and stage of development. Each school develops its own particular school renewal plan which takes into account local school needs and initiatives as well as systemic and government requirements.

 

Catholic School Renewal Policies have some variations in each Diocese.

 

The Education Secretary and  Principal, who is responsible for the management of School Renewal processes, always refer to the documents recommended in each Diocese.

 

 

Parent Involvement in the Catholic School

The climate and role of the educating community is constituted by the interaction and collaboration of its various components: students, parents, principals, teachers and non teaching staff.

Parents have a particularly important role to play in the educating community since it is to them that primary and natural responsibility for their children’s education belongs. It is necessary to foster initiatives …which provide the right sort of concrete support which the family needs and which involves it in the Catholic school’s educational project.

.Catholic Education is in a period of momentous change requiring systems and schools to evaluate their practices in the light of serious challenges to the role and conduct of education within contemporary society. In a world in which our youth face an uncertain future, the Catholic school needs to centre its existence on those Christian values and traditions which give hope for a more just and peaceful society.

The Catholic school is promoting excellence in its teaching and learning in a creative environment.  Since the Education needs to be seen and accepted as an enjoyable and rewarding pursuit able to be easily accessed at any stage of life, the school community is always willing to adapt to change and to play a proactive role in the current educational debate. The Principal and the teaching staff need to be supported as they attempt to come to terms with the ever changing needs of students and the pressures of an increasingly demanding society.

Truth, trust and shared wisdom are important hallmarks of the authentic Catholic school. These should be evident in the positive relationships of its community members, its openness to criticism and renewal and the maintenance of structures which invite real involvement in its operation. The school’s policies and procedures should demonstrate that it affirms the personal worth of each member of the school community and it recognises, shares and celebrates success in all forms of life and learning.

By Y. M M ,CKC – Tiko

Cameroon

“Catholic Schools, a place to be”