An annual six-day pastoral meeting in Merauke archdiocese in Papua province has highlighted the need to boost the education of Catholic children in the region after a local Church survey revealed faults in the existing system.

“Education methods in many elementary schools managed by Catholic foundations are not working properly,” Marianus Kloatubun, one of the meeting’s organizers told 120 priests and pastoral workers.

The October 17-22 meeting is taking place taking at the St Francis Xavier Formation House in Kelapa Lima village.

At national level, he said, the quality of education in elementary schools has declined. “It is even worse at local level. The Church is trying to rectify the situation. But the quality of human resources remains poor,” he told the gathering.

He pointed to a lack of funding and the fact teachers are poorly paid.

He said that during previous discussions, many participants would talk about marginalized groups and how the Church ignored them.

“So [we] ask the priests and pastoral workers to pay more attention [to them],” he asserted.

He suggested the archdiocese draw up plans which are in accordance with the internal needs of the local Catholic Church.

“But remember, they must also be drawn up in collaboration with other related parties such as the government and NGOs,” he told them.