Religious education will instil discipline, respect

LAW and order issues are on the rise, social ills, decline in ethical standard, decline in morality, increase in domestic drug and abuse and the list goes on.
How these concerns are addressed is becoming a dilemma as whatever tactics and approaches currently used is not delivering the expected results.
There is growing concern about the breakdown in discipline and respect in our society and if not addressed soon it will affect the future.
It seems everyone is taking a knee-jerk or reactive rather than looking at a proactive approach to dealing with the situation.
When the academic year started this year, a new subject was added to the curriculum – “Citizenship and Christian Value Education” that is to be taught in all government schools from the elementary level right through to grade 12.
One may wonder, how “Citizenship and Christian Value Education” fits into a society that is already crumpling with social issues.
This subject borders along Religious Education and makes a distinctive contribution to the school curriculum by developing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of religion, religious beliefs, practices, language and traditions and their influence on individuals, communities, societies and cultures.
PNG is a Christian country and Christianity is defined in our Constitution but sadly, that does not translate to what is happening in the society.
Let us be realistic, what is being done today, will not address the root cause of these social problems in the country.
The root causes are lack of discipline and respect for our culture and respect for our laws.
And at the time when the decision was made for the inclusion of this subject, the Government saw Religious Education as one of the only viable solutions to addressing these.
Teaching Religious Education as a compulsory subject such as science and mathematics, we will produce educated population based on discipline, respect, integrity and value for each other.
In a few years, this will have an impact on our society will be positive – we will have lesser social ills, law and order problems and more importantly increase in economic prosperity.
We just have to look at the experiences of other countries around the world when they institutionalised Religious Education into their education system and work place.
In Japan, in place of Religious Education, there is a short but compulsory subject called “Ethics” in primary school, where the purpose is to teach moral values rather than to teach ethics as an academic subject.
They have a disciplined population, self-respect for one and other, integrity and respect for laws, peace and harmony in their communities. And they have witnessed high economic growth, social order, law and order and improvement on the quality of lives of the people.
Respect and tolerance are values that cannot be taught only in the classroom.
Education is such an important part of growing up and supporting that growth through strong Christian values creates confident, accomplished and well wounded children.
Religious children will be influenced by their environment to be a good and caring citizen.
Using religious motives to tighten children’s behaviour will enable them to learn to care for others, and they will grow up to desirable citizens who will do their best for the society.