A priest writing in the Catholic Times reminds the readers of the importance of education both in the schools run by the church and in our Sunday school programs. However, he sighs, when he thinks of what is happening in our formation programs for the students in the parishes.
College students are busy preparing for employment after graduation. This requires preparation in getting their special training to meet the expectations of the different work places. They have to take aptitude tests for the different places of work, they even have academies to prepare the students for these exams and interviews. College students who have their eyes on a civil servant job will need to prepare for these exams. Many need to work part time to pay the tuition; colleges have become places to prepare for employment.
This kind of environment society is asking college students to accept is making it difficult for them to prepare to teach in the Sunday school programs in the parishes. Problems are not limited only to one segment of society but the blame has to be shared by the churches, industry, colleges, and politics. Problems come from the choices made. Structures of society are making it difficult to prepare for the future with the necessary religious knowledge that students need to have.
This is true for the college student teachers and those they are teaching. This is one reason for the secularization of the Church and the members. The formation of our Christians for the future is not being done properly. He wants us to reconsider the whole issue of education for our young people and find ways to solve the problems.
