The status quo of the ‘religious mission’ in selected catholic secondary schools in Lusaka district, Zambia.
Date
2022
Authors
Chinyama, Khramani, Clare
Chinyama, Khramani Clare
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to establish the status quo of the ‘religious mission’ in selected
Catholic secondary schools in Lusaka District of Zambia. The objectives of the study were: to
establish the status quo regarding the ‘religious mission’ in selected Catholic secondary schools in
Lusaka District; to assess whether the ‘religious mission’ is correctly implemented in selected
Catholic secondary schools in Lusaka District; to explore the challenges faced by Catholic
secondary schools in the implementation of the ‘religious mission’ in Lusaka District; to suggest
possible ways of how Catholic secondary schools can best achieve the ‘religious mission’ in
Lusaka District.
The research used qualitative approach and adopted a descriptive design to address the research
questions. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions
with a total sample of 33 participants. Homogenous purposive sampling was used in selecting the
participants. The data collected was analysed thematically by coding, categorizing and putting it
under themes related to the objectives of the study.
The findings of this study revealed that the status quo of the ‘religious mission’ in selected Catholic
secondary schools in Lusaka District of Zambia was present. However, it was weak as most of the
schools concentrated more on academics than on the evangelisation mission. The implementation
of the ‘religious mission’ could be said to be only at fifty percent in the schools in Lusaka District.
The schools had a number of challenges among them was that the majority of the pupils enrolled
in the schools were non-Catholics. The majority of the teachers were also non-Catholics, in some
cases, 70% of the teachers were non-Catholic and did not believe in the Catholic faith.
The study concluded that there was a lot of laxity in the implementation of Catholic religious
programmes and that the schools which had religious brothers, priests or sisters in their
administration implemented the religious programmes better. The study concluded that the
celebration of Holy Mass could be more frequent because the preaching of the word and homilies,
listened to by the learners, helped them to learn what the word of God and the Church taught.
The study recommends that Catechism lessons should be introduced and taught in all the Catholic
secondary schools. The Catholic secondary schools need to have more Eucharist celebrations
where the learners would get to listen to the preaching of the word and the homily for their prayer
and holistic formation. In addition, attending of Mass should not be optional for both pupils and
the teachers because all need salvation and formation. Furthermore, the study recommends that
Catholic clubs should be encouraged so that the learners could get on-going formation which was
important in the attainment of their faith.
Keywords: Catholic Education, Catholic Identity, Catholic grant-aided secondary school,
Religious Mission, Status Quo.
Description
Thesis
Keywords
Catholic education , Catholic Church--Education. , Mission of catholic--Secondary schools. , Catholic Church--Education--Zambia. , Catholic schools--Zambia.