Keeping Catholic schools open to students of other religions or faiths is an important part of education in a country that is multi-religious or where Christians are a minority.
It teaches young people to be more open to people of all faiths, said De La Salle Christian Brothers Asia-Pacific Region coordinator Brother David Hawke.
“School is the one place where we establish a long term relationships with young people over a period of years. That makes an impact on them,” he said during a courtesy call on the Archbishop of Kuching yesterday.
This was echoed by Archbishop Datuk John Ha, who said that one of the characteristics of the La Salle schools is that it is open to all.
“Even in my time in school, I had Malay and Buddhist classmates. I think that made a mark,” he said, adding that they want to give children of other faiths the same quality of education as they give to Catholic students.
Hawke and Ha, together with Yayasan Lasallian Kuching advisor Brother Albinus O`Flaherty, also discussed the impact of technology on young people today.
“Young people seem to be lost without their cellphones or games. It`s important that in education we can teach young people that communication and relationships are important. Sometimes, modern technology affects their ability to communicate and relate to people,” Hawke said.
During the visit, Ha also told Hawke about the church and archdiocese, their work in education, the new private school and the need of education among young people.
“And I was able to talk about some of the work the brothers re doing in education. I can see that if we could have some more brothers in Kuching, we will be able to make a contribution, with education as our primary responsibility.”
Hawke, who is mainly based in Singapore, is on a familiarisation tour of seven countries in the
East Asia region.-The Borneo Post
IMPRESSED: De La Salle Christian Brothers Asia-Pacific Region coordinator Brother David Hawke (second left) speaking to school prefects and prefects-in-training after his tour of St Joseph’s Secondary School in Kuching yesterday.