President of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) Mark Lyte recently expressed his support for the reviewing of Christian prayers in public schools.GTU President, Mark LyteHe stated that the emersion of Christian prayers in schools did not start yesterday and it is not likely a problem which will end today.The replacing of Christian prayers with universal prayers,
Cheap NFL Jerseys, he expressed, may take a very long time. It has been the talk for many years to have universal prayers within schools, but such prayers are extremely difficult to coin as they often tend to favour one religion over another.“As long as all these religious bodies agree on the universal prayers, as coining one is the real challenge,
Wholesale Jerseys Store, we have no qualms about it as we are in fact a multi-religious society,
Cheap NBA Jerseys China,” said Lyte.Reverend Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth of the Guyana Presbyterian Church, who is also head of the Guyana Responsible parenthood Association (GRPA) along with Dr. Vindhya Persaud, President of the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, has also expressed their support for the review.Bisnauth had expressed her surprise that Christian prayers are still the official prayer in most public schools across the country,
Wholesale NFL Jerseys, as Guyana has been acknowledged as a pluralistic society since the 1970’s. It was assumed that as such, school prayers would reflect this plurality.“I personally think it’s a good move by the Minister as it will aid in respect for the different religions. It should never be about competition to see whose God is better,
Jerseys NFL Cheap, but it should be about encouraging respect between these different belief systems. Hopefully, people will soon see how good this move is,” said Bisnauth.Persaud had also commented on the issue stating that “it has always been a belief of mine that we should have universal prayers within our schools. By using such a prayer,
China Jerseys Wholesale, it promotes tolerance and respect for each other’s cultures, especially in a country such as ours.”Despite the various religions existing within Guyana’s society and the country’s position of being a secular state, most public schools across Guyana see students reciting Christian prayers despite their religious affiliation.According to the Constitution of Guyana, the practice of having Christian prayers in public schools across the country is in contravention of laws set out in relation to the separation of church and state.The Ministry of Education has over the years never addressed the issue despite many requests for universal prayers. By allowing public education to accommodate the Lord’s Prayer, the Ministry was seen as being oblivious to the Constitution of Guyana.Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnarine, stated that the practice is not one which will be condoned by his Ministry. He made his intentions clear to do away with it and implement interdenominational prayers across the public school system.He added that the reciting of Christian prayers in schools may be a preference of the teachers and to his knowledge has never been the policy of the Ministry.“If that’s the practice that is going on in these public schools,” the Minister stated, “it is not a practice we condone. We are a multi-religious country and we have to realize that we have multi-religious children so that whatever prayer is used in schools, should not exclude any of the religions.”Roopnarine said that the Ministry will soon review the practice which could possibly be detrimental to social cohesion. He revealed that he will soon start disseminating information countrywide to inform teachers of the need of having interdenominational prayers in the nation’s schools.Interdenominational prayers were said to be the only policy with regards to school prayers that the Ministry embraces, as they can apply to all religions rather than to any single denomination.
