Heads of Catholic Primary Schools in Kenya Encouraged to Enhance “Catholic identity”

The Bishop of Kenya’s Embu diocese also encouraged the headteachers to help facilitate in their respective schools the realization of “positive relationships that are based on respect for human dignity of all” and the furtherance of “positive virtues, values and life-skills that permeate every aspect of the school life.”

“Successful educational programs depend upon the ability of a school to create a safe and conducive learning environment,” Bishop Kariuki noted and appealed to the headteachers to spearhead “works of charity and mercy” in their respective schools and to ensure “academic excellence.”

Convened under the theme, “Raising our Voices – Safeguarding all Children: Our Responsibility,” the conference is being attended by some 230 participants who are deliberating on ways of protecting children in schools, one of the current concerns in the society.

In this regard, the Kenyan Prelate emphasized the need for the headteachers to make every effort to guarantee the safety of children and to ensure that “schools are free from all forms of abuse, including physical, emotional, sexual and spiritual abuse as well as well as neglect.”

He told the headteachers that it was their responsibility to make sure those enrolled in their schools “understand the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse and are safe from drug peddlers and traffickers.”

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The Bishop encouraged the headteachers to take up the “responsibility of preventing and responding to abuse of children in and out of school” as well as ensuring that “children in our schools are equipped with values, knowledge and life skills to enable them choose right from wrong, thus making informed decisions.”

Referencing the collective role in education of children, Bishop Kariuki appealed to the headteachers of the Catholic-sponsored primary schools in Kenya to “productively engage with parents and teachers for the good of learners.”