THE SECOND Provincial Conference of the Association of Catholic Teachers has been held, with a call on teachers to come together and champion the needs of the church, and the people of the sovereignty of Ghana.

The Archbishop of Kumasi, Most Rev. Thomas Mensah of the Kumasi Catholic Archdiocese, said a teacher must not only seem to nurture, but must invest in the national family life.

Addressing the conference in Kumasi, the Catholic Bishop said teachers had a lot to do in the supreme interest of the nation, by teaching the young and educating them to be responsible in society.

According to the Catholic prelate, "we live in a society in which moral values have been thrown overboard; a society whose traditional moral values have been seriously eroded by the influx of western culture and literature; a society in which casual sex is common," and urged teachers to see themselves as agents of change.

"Apply punishment, when appropriate, to bring some sense of discipline in the child, in order to bring faith, hope, respect and humility that brings the best of a child," based on the mandate of the teacher to impact knowledge to the nation, he stated.

The Regional Director of Education, Mr. Joseph Onyinah, who was the Guest Speaker, entreated teachers to make sure there was discipline and order in the schools.

The interim President of the Association, Mr. Paul Osei Asibey, appealed to His Grace the Archbishop, to help link the association with the Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference for fruitful interaction, to enable them understand the hierarchy of the church, and creating awareness for all the Bishops and Priests in his jurisdiction on the need to have the association in their areas of operation.