SHOULD STUDENTS CONFORM TO THE RELIGIOUS PRACTICES OF MISSION SCHOOLS?
March 23, 2008
Last week the nation was consumed by a debate on this subject following the death of a muslim student at Adisadel college who jumped off a fourth floor building in an attempt to escape punishment for not attending a Sunday morning service.Since then, there have been many opinions expressed mostly suggesting that ‘when you go to Rome, you do what the Roman’s do”
For someone who attended a catholic school and benefitted tremendously from catholic education, you wouldn’t be wrong to expect that I would quickly jump to the defence of mission schools and say……..”Yes let the students conform. If they cannot, they have no business being here.”
But that is where you are wrong.
I disagree with the idea that students should conform to the religious practices of mission schools.
First there is the excuse that student’s who attend mission schools are more disciplined. I think many of us confuse being religious with being disciplined. What makes many students of mission schools seem disciplined is not the religious practices that students are forced to adhere to, but the principle of targets, rewards and consequences. In other words, it is not the prayer recitals at 6, 12 and 6 that makes them disciplined but rather setting targets (in this case prayer sessions) and enforcing them that disciplines them. A school that enforces, dinning, class, chores and dress codes achieves the same disciplinary effect.
Again some have argued that the mission schools instill a lot if religious and moral standards in students – something which is necessary for the growth of our future generations. Therefore compel the students to conform – for it is in their own interest. I disagree, I dare say this argument defeats the very standard that proponents of this line seek to uphold. This position suggests that catholics, methodists, presbytarians etc are less likely to go wayward than children who are not.!!!! And we all know that is untrue.
I am amazed at this school of thought because the evidence around us is to the contrary. The said moral training provided to kids by schools is only an attempt to pass unto schools a job which should be done at home. We all know that in SSS, the kids with great morals from home hardly get corrupt. The already lost ones would not get corrected with hourly prayer recitals but with discipline.
My biggest reservation has to do with the threat of religious indoctrination. Not all of us share the same religious beliefs. Indeed many of us find the religious practices of others uncomfortable, strange, ridiculous and sometimes offensive. I worry about the idea that we would inspite of that argue that if kids of another religion come to our school that MUST practice the things our church prescribes. That is indoctrination and our constitutions protects us against that.
Finally, the notion among many, that “when you go to Rome, you do what the Roman’s do” is also untenable. Our schools are operated (legally) as circular institutions. It is against our laws (which we all would want to uphold) to compel someone to conform to our religious practises because it is our school.
Can you imagine how it would be if your boss said he is a scientologist and therefore requires all staff to observe scientology rules in the office? We would all cry foul. At least, I would.
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15 Responses to “SHOULD STUDENTS CONFORM TO THE RELIGIOUS PRACTICES OF MISSION SCHOOLS?”
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I agree with everything you have said in your blog post. I am (not) surprised at the relative silence of the judiciary when it comes to this. These schools receive assistance from the government, which as you pointed out, means they have to adhere to the laws that govern public institutions. As far as I know there’s no provision in our constitution that allows schools to force students to attend religious gatherings. The sad thing about this is that if this was an Islamic school and a Christian student had jumped to his death, people would be up in arms demanding action. We need to start respecting the rules laid down in our constitution. The bigger conversation we need to have is how to effectively separate church and state and protect the views of all regardless of affiliation.
kojo,
i think, you will find it’s rather SECULAR than CIRCULAR. It makes a world of difference in meaning.
Kojo,
I followed this story and was very sad that the student died.what i want to know is was the student not attending the sunday service since his first year?,and is he tthe only muslim in the school,and what was he and the others doing at that unopened classroom block?I may be wrong but i think they werre upto something unlawful at that time…the reason for him to jump to escape punishment rather than jumping for not attending church service.
Kojo, having attended a mission school, you should have known better that compulsory church service is not to make the students part of that particular religious body but to make sure that they are at that social gathering. If they should allow students who belong to a different denomination or religion to escape these services, they will end up in the dorms stealing and doing all kinds of things. The schools cannot also allow them to attend services in town or allow them to organize their services in school. If that happens i bet all students will pastors, imams and chief priests. So far i have not heard a student who has been punished for not reciting the rosary or singing the hymn. I went to an all girls catholic school and at any given point in time when students escape social gathering not necessarily church service something gets missing.
kojo, i attended a catholic school and even though i am not a catholic, i made it a point to go to the service every sunday and everyday my class is to go cus that was the rule. the guy decided to go to that school and dont think any one made him to go there and was he not going for the service since first year? so what happened this time?
KAY I WILL SAY IT AGAIN ITS JUST A TRICK OF THE GAME FOR THE FIRST LADY TO DAMN DR MAHAMA. I.E. SHE DAMNS HIM THEN MILLS STANDS HIS GROUND BY CHOOSING MAHAMA THEN WE SAY OH! MILLS IS A MAN OF HIS OWN. THE RAWLINGS FAMILY WILL WANT PEOPLE TO TAKE THEIR MINDS OF THEM SO THEY WORK UNDERGROUND. THEY ACTUALLY LIKE MAHAMA BA THEY DIDNT WANT TO SAY IT FOR PEOPLE TO SAY MILLS IS NOT A MAN OF HIS OWN.
THEN THEY FIRED VICTOR COS THEY KNOW HE HAS NOT GOT A ZIPPY LIP. HE MAY SAY IT BEFORE THEY REALISED IT. BETTY WAS JUS A DECOY
what is the world coming to who said that they are been forced to attend church? the authorizes in the school will have to maintain some order in the school and if the students agree to go there they must be ready to obey the rules. nobody is forcing them to change their faith. its a school gathering and at every point in time the authorizes must be able to account for all their student.
we must not let student do whatever they want in name of i don’t like this!!!!! we must be careful what we are doing today
Kojo,
I believe every school or institution have services that have been grounded with them. So anyone who enters, should also be ready to attend such functions.
Such functions also help to ensure law and order, and prevent students loitering about, and doing their own things.
attending a school’s function does not make a member of that church. he knew it was mission school yet he chose the place. if that is the case then he should be redy to abide by the school’s laws. afterall, he is not the only moslem in that school.
kojo, i think going to cotholic or persbytarian school does not mean yoy are a catholic or p’tarian since each doctrine understanding is differnt from otter.the school that iam attending is an anglican school,on sunday each and every student is forced to go to the anglican church.stdnts who are not anglicans dont cope with what ever goes on in the church,you will see them doing their own things which even distort those who are from that doctrines in terms of worshiping.so i think if even the authorities stop that kind of enforcement to worship in their own churches ,it will even benefit them.thanks
Students should be made to know that they are governed by the laws of the environments they find themselves at a particulars time.
I think if you are not ready to conform to a mission schools laws and do what the romans do when in rome, then you simply attend a school were you can do as you please. i attended a catholic school where the chaplain was ready and suggested to the other faiths to see him for a prayer ground in order not to force the catholic religion on any student who wasn’t catholic but surprise, surprise, no one came.
if u are the chaplain, what action will you then take against those who don’t attend the sunday service?
these periods are the periods where the students tend to do as they please (administering their illegal drugs and indulging in other immoral behaviour). i would prefer my kid to be forced to attend a sunday service in order to shape him if i were muslim, than wait for hime to come home on holidays to visit the mosque on fridays and not have learnt any morals in life.
let’s be one and train our kids the right way.
kojo,i tink dis boyz where up to something,if not smoking then wat,because i also whent to st augustins college,so i no what i am saying.
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A job and a school are not the same thing. A school operates under different laws than do jobs. If the school is setup for religious practices and its in their contract and you decide to attend that school, then you already know what you’re getting into right? So why not attend another school? Doesn’t that make sense? Why’d you (not you in particular just people) sign up for the school knowing that you had to attend service each week, or whatever the regimen is that was set forth way before you? You say its wrong to enforce those things on people, but an established institution has its own personal beliefs as well and anyone trying to change and impose their beliefs to change the school is wrong.