A Catholic priest has called on government leaders to prioritize the country’s resources on education as the pillar of development.
The catholic priest says education is essential for growth and development for when a country has a high literacy rate and good education system then more advancement will be realized.
Fr. Otto Joseph, the Parish Priest of Our Lady of Sorrow Parish of Catholic Diocese of Torit in Kapoeta mentions that when the Country’s resources are invested in the education sector especially in training the teachers, they would be able to deliver better services to the learners in the schools.
He notes that a well-educated population is necessary for the overall progress of any country.
‘‘Put all your resources on education and put all your efforts in schools and give about 10-20 years, you will then realize the power of investment in education. When some of you [leaders] get old and start walking along the streets with sticks then the society will notice your efforts while pointing at someone of you as pillars of education labelling you as light towards education development in the country’’ Fr. Otto Joseph advised.
‘‘We must accept that we are badly off in terms of education and so it must be a number one priority and so if there is something that we need to do is to train the teachers, in twenty years’ time this country will be a different country altogether.”
Fr. Joseph says it’s important for the leaders to have a vision for the country and says that this can only be achieved by grooming up the young people as the next leaders.
‘‘Leaders must always have vision for the young people because they are the future leaders of the next generation. The world will never end with them, they must protect the young people and then hand them to the next generation whom they have prepared and if we have never prepared, we are not going to have any elite people ‘’ he added.
He encourages the leaders to support the youth through study scholarship opportunities especially those who are not able to further their studies due to limited resources.