Religious Education In Catholic School

After the renewal of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and since, religious education has changed from a wholly content-focused subject to a student-focused one; from learning off questions and answers to discussion of personal experience and response; and from difference being defined denominationally within the Christian tradition, to an acknowledgement of the variety of people today and respect for the diversity of their religions and beliefs. The current critique of denominational education and of denominational religious education in particular, risks undermining the place of this core subject in all schools, just at a moment when deeper reflection on religion, belief, spirituality and ethics could contribute enormously to the emergence

So, religious education taught in the Catholic schools must be more than a formal instruction. It must be a conscious pathway to the development of the whole person as a model of Christ and permeates all facets of life in a Catholic community and must help students to arrive at a personal position in religious matter, contribute to their growth and development as individuals and Christians (Consecrated persons and their mission in schools).It should also promote authentic educational relationship with young people (#43), encourage positive attitudes, such as an awareness that every person can give and receive, a willingness to welcome the other, a capacity for a serene dialogue (#44).

A historical approach to the multi-faith Religious Education was introduced in Botswana with the junior secondary level in 1996 and as a result, this syllabus was relevant to the educational needs of a homogenous society (Matemba,

1. Access to the individual’s inheritance of cultural religious meanings;

2. Critical interpretation and evaluation of culture

Catholic school religious education contributes to pupils’ cultural exposure to Catholicism; it can extend their cultural horizons beyond what they might absorb from their immediate home and community environment. This should also include knowledge of other religious traditions in the culture. Young people need some familiarity with their own tradition and knowledge of religions generally, even if at the time they may think this has little relevance for them.

Critical evaluation of culture has long been a concern of Catholic religious education. It was stressed in the encyclical Evangelii nuntiandi (Evangelisation in the modern world) by Pope Paul VI in 1976, and was regarded as important for youth ministry, adult education, missiology and theological education. Nevertheless, it has not been as prominent as it should be in the content of Catholic school religion