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Uganda: Religious Studies Can't Be Scrapped From Curriculum
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New Vision (Kampala)
OPINION
6 May 2008
Posted to the web 7 May 2008
Martin Lwanga
Kampala
AFTER the shock of Budo Junior School inferno, many would think that the Government is finding solutions to the problem such as hiring school inspectors to enforce safety standards. However, The New Vision of April 28, reported that the Cabinet has proposed that religious studies be taken out of school curriculum.
The ministers argue that religious education should be left to parents. This view assumes that all children have the privilege of being raised in good families that can impart on them moral values. They also assume that what is taught at home cannot be further clarified at school. If there isn't much use for teaching what is already taught at home as we are led to believe, then why teach hygiene at school, which all parents do at home?
It is wrong to conclude that all children are born in families where moral values are imparted on them. Is it right then to assume that what the likes of LRA leader Joseph Kony teach their children cannot be countered by what is taught in public schools? Public schools have a central role in moulding the character of children.
Through the teachings from the inspired books like the Bible, Koran and Torah, children have an opportunity to understand where moral values spring from, their nature and role in society.
But are moral laws derived from some 'wise' peoples' ideas about how we relate to each other? Is morality a matter of relativity? Aren't moral laws derived from absolutes which trace to a higher power?
The public ought to know that there is a more sinister motive behind this campaign. It is vital to note that a Cabinet minister urged that the Bible be taken out of Parliament. Before long, Uganda's motto will be read "For Me And Whose Country!" In a society without moral absolutes attributed to a higher power, it implies that human beings are not accountable to anybody.
In this regard, it would be easy for anyone to steal public funds, kill for pleasure, engage in sexual adventures such as bestiality for personal hedonism and abort at a glance. In fact, those who have followed the discussion on morality know that interest of some of our donor partners is to see our virtues disintegrate like it has already happened in Western developed societies.
History has demonstrated that the most dangerous human being is one who does not feel accountable to a higher power. Indeed, this was the basis of Nazi holocaust, which descended into experimenting with various forms such as exterminating human beings. The godless communist revolution witnessed in Soviet Union through the Gulag and China through the Cultural Revolution are recent examples of what happens in societies that do not fear God.
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The Cabinet should not limit itself to how faith is taught. The Inter-religious Council should offer advice and try to ensure that all faiths are catered for in the curriculum.
In any case, most of the elite behind these proposals send their children to religious-founded schools like King's College Budo, Mt. St Mary's College Namagunga and Kibuli Muslim School. Is their sudden change of mind due to the threat of a cut in donor funding to make them ultimately forbid public schools from teaching religious studies and recommend that the subject be confined to homes and places of worship?
The writer is a concerned citizen
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