Bring back moral education - Prof. Mante

President of the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, Rev. Prof J.O.Y. Mante, has questioned the removal of Moral Education from the curriculum and attributed the unruly behaviour of students on campuses to that decision.

He said since formal education was a process of socialisation that enabled beneficiaries (students) to fit properly into society, it was imperative that teaching such a subject be infused in the curriculum.

Prof. Mante said this when he addressed the 6th Excellent Awards ceremony for the 38 colleges of education in the country in Cape Coast last Wednesday.

Ten students who were rewarded for their excellent performances received laptops, certificates and cash prizes.

The ceremony, under the auspices of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), was on the theme: “Empowering Basic Education Through Quality Professional Teacher Training.”

Violence in schools

Prof. Mante expressed worry over the recent violence at UCC which left three students in a critical condition, with many injured,  saying “the absence of moral education could largely contribute to such indiscipline.”

He said moral education had been in the  country’s educational curriculum but noted that “in our attempt to follow western education, we rather give attention to science and mathematics, leaving morality.”

Mission schools

Expressing his views on whether or not mission schools should be handed to the government, Prof. Mante posited that education would suffer great injustice if that was carried through.

He lauded the government for its commitment to improve the well-being of teachers, but prayed that such a promise should not “wane on the way.”

The Director of the Institute of Education, UCC, Prof. Frederick Ocansey, expressed delight that since the teacher training programme at the colleges of education was scaled up from certificate to diploma, academic performance of students had improved significantly over the years.

He commended the awardees for the efforts they put in their studies not only to excel but to also become outstanding, and urged them to live lives worthy of emulation by their peers, teachers and pupils/students.

Prof. Ocansey dismissed the erroneous notion that the UCC was too rigid and difficult to please or satisfy in students’ performance and stressed that students who committed themselves to studying seriously would be able to achieve great success.

The National Best Winner, Ms Stephanie Quansowa Tetteh of the Tamale College of Education, who spoke on behalf of the awardees, said the award would motivate them to do their best in their profession.