Catholic educators in the south have been urged to live a good life and instill moral lessons in students of public schools during a workshop over the weekend. About 400 Catholic teachers from pre-schools through university level attended the workshop at the Pastoral Center in Ho Chi Minh City on October 2. Auxiliary Bishop Peter Nguyen Van Kham, who spoke at the workshop, stressed the importance of the moral dimension of education. “We should provide our students with moral and human values because education means to teach people to be human beings,” Salesian Father Joseph Nguyen Van Am told the workshop. Father Am, head of a local Salesian Institute, said teachers should consider their work as a vocation, not a means of livelihood. Joseph Vu Quang Tuyen, head of the group of Catholic educators, said the workshop aims to give opportunities for local educators to share their educational experience and find effective ways to give students moral and human values that are in sharp decline among young people. A teacher, identified only as Huong, blamed a decline in moral standards for local schools that give their students only scientific knowledge. “Students are not taught honesty, obedience, politeness and other common values,” the teacher said. Huong said a recent survey made by the Catholic educators found that 80 percent of students admitted to telling lies or cheating on examinations. Bishop Kham said although the local Church is not allowed to run educational centers, many Catholic educators work at state-run schools and institutes and have a duty to educate students to be good people, he added.