The catholic Marianist brothers’ compulsory policy of religious education as a moral saver: a case of Matero boys’ secondary school in Lusaka district, Zambia

Abstract

The article focuses on the contribution the Marianist Brothers made to moral and integral boys’ education in their education philosophy at Matero Boys Secondary School popularly known as MaBoys. Cox’s (1994) theory of phenomenology of religion was used to generate empirical data from the religious and lived experiences of the Marianist Brothers as well as the narrated stories from both former teachers and pupils of the first twenty-five years at MaBoys. The study was purely qualitative and allowed the social phenomena to speak in its social setting. Specifically, the study used a follow-up case study design to capture and understand the Marianist applied pedagogical practices in enhancing former pupils’ lives after leaving the school. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and data analysis was done thematically from the merging themes. The findings indicated that Religious Education was the core of morality in provision of quality education. Further, findings revealed that RE was supplemented with other religious programmes which is the Marianist Brothers’ initiative to impart spiritual moral behaviour in the learners through assessments. Additionally, frequent observations made by both Brothers and teachers on virtues of Christian life in areas of prayer, devotion and charity affected the learners’ religiosity behaviour long after living the school. This was evident that Marianist imprint remained in the boys’ lives who became responsible citizens of the nation. The study recommends that RE should be made compulsory at all levels in both faith based and public schools to promote moral values.