Thursday, May 20, 2010

Nuns stress parental role in children’s education

Canossian sisters have launched an initiative to increase parental involvement in the education of their children in a bid to raise moral and academic standards.
“Problematic students mostly come from problematic families,” said Sister Cynthia Chan Sum-yee, who heads the Canossian Missions in Hong Kong and Macau.
Parents exert the most influence over students, she told UCA News.
The congregation runs 19 kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, as well as colleges in Hong Kong.
Every Canossian school is holding regular parent meetings and is inviting Catholic parents to join Bible-sharing gatherings, Sister Chan said.
Recently, the congregation organized a joint school-parent gathering to help parents learn how to communicate more effectively with their children.
“Even a genius needs close parental attention to discover and learn,” the nun said.
Parents say they like the monthly Bible-sharing, which gives them spiritual enrichment after work and allows them to share parenting issues and approach relations with their children in a fresh way.
Sister Regina But, principal of Canossa College, said education must move along with the times, and “we must recognize the changes in young people and society.”
The greatest challenge nowadays is to guide students away from distorted values such as materialism, since some young people are confused or think very little about their real needs, she said.
Student Vince Wu said the school attaches great importance to nurturing virtues. As well as emphasizing academic studies, students are also encouraged to join extra-curricular activities to live a more balanced life.

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