By Carl Breeveld, Member of The National Assembly of the Republic of Suriname

In order to have a better understanding, I will explain the current situation and present a brief history on the development of education in our nation.

Suriname [1] has an extensive educational system with free schooling compulsory until age 12. 

The government, the Roman Catholic and Moravian Churches, as well as Hindu and Muslim organizations provide education for kindergarten through secondary school. As a rule, all instruction is in Dutch, since Suriname was once a colony of the Netherlands, and this language is widely spoken.

The Constitution provides for schools of various beliefs, based on particular articles such as Article 8 which guarantees freedom of religion.

The great diversity of peoples in Suriname has evolved from a long history of slavery (a great percentage of our population is of African decent) followed by an extensive period of the use indentured labor where people were brought from India, Indonesia and China to work the sugar cane plantations.

History of our education system 

October 9, 1738, marked the beginning of the education of slaves by German missionaries of the Moravian Church . From their initial coming to Suriname their primary mission was to reach out to slaves with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They had an integral approach. Those slaves who became Christians were given the opportunity to participate in the education programme. Prior to this time, all negro slaves and their children were excluded from any form of education. The missionaries used Sundays to teach the slaves when they came together for worship. This was about three hours weekly.

Approximate Time Line
1823 According to the law subjects to be taught were reading, Biblical history and ‘religious truths”.
1834 A school was established with 300 pupils of free slaves in the Capital (Paramaribo) which was only open on Sundays. 1840 The first training college for teachers was erected. The aim was to train teachers to serve in rural areas. The slave owners were against these institutions and the training college was closed after some months
1844 The Government passed a law providing for education to children of slaves and boys of the slaves who would train to become teachers. Writing was still forbidden and seen as dangerous for the state security until 1857.
1863 Slavery was abolished and the missionaries could continue with education to a larger amount of people.

The Roman Catholics developed their educational system as well.

A vast majority of schools in the interior of Suriname – deep in the heart of the Amazon Rain Forest – are Christian schools. There are of course public schools in Suriname, but far fewer than the number of Christian schools.

In general, the policy is that education is provided free. The Ministry of Education and Community Development provides the salaries for all teachers, but yet the maintaining of buildings and provision of school materials is the responsibility of the boards or foundations who administrate the particular schools.

The request of some people in the interior to convert their Christian schools to public schools is based on material motives. They think that physical circumstances of their schools would improve, given that public schools are positioned to receive all their funds directly from the Ministry of Education.

Opinion 
My vantage point as both a politician and a Christian, with years of experience as an educational administrator necessitates my clarifying some of the issues in this consideration of converting a particular Christian school to a public, government-run institution.

I applaud the opinion of The Minister of Education, Mr. Raymond Sapoen, who said in an interview that it is beyond his competence or purview to change the religious foundation of the school. Our Constitution affirms every citizen’s right to freedom of religion.

The primary motive or rationale for requesting removal of the critical Christian influence in this long-standing institution is a purely a materialistic one and not based on arguments of reasonableness. This same motive can be accomplished otherwise without negating the work of the Moravian Church which has provided education for centuries. It has always been faithful to the mission of quality moral education, even sometimes having had to work with teachers who were not completely qualified. The Moravians have done their utmost not to terminate the education process.

Since education is to be provided free for all children and since our Constitution provides all inhabitants of Suriname the same rights, the Ministry of Education should take its responsibility and provide equivalent and consistent support to all schools. This is especially so in this case where the Moravian Church assists the government in fulfilling its constitutional responsibility to provide a free education. Particularly because of the remoteness these interior schools which endure additional geographic and transportation-related challenges, the Ministry should be pleased to come alongside these Christian entities to augment their programs to ensure quality and consistency of education. Parents shouldn’t be forced to choose to surrender the much needed Christian influence of these institutions to be sure proper facilities are afforded their students. Given that the majority of schools in our country are Christian-based, extra support is needed from the Government, while simultaneously the Government benefits from what is provided by the sponsoring Christian entities.

Christian schools in our country cannot and do not exclude any Surinamese children from studying in their schools. Parents and children have had to recognize a quality education is provided but from a Christian perspective with Christian principals.

Changing the school in question to a public one ignores a long history of Christian service, one through which many people in our community have prospered and were able to achieve their goals.

The sensible alternative is to make an appeal to the government, more specifically to the Ministry of Education, to augment the fine work of these Christian educational institutions while doing all necessary to strengthen them giving them the facility maintenance and all other forms of support needed.

Why Christian education? 
Finally there are many reasons to consider the validity and value of Christian education.

Martin Luther suggested that without Christian values, our schools lack a moral compass when he said, "I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount."

In Deuteronomy 6:7 the Word of God commands parents to teach Godly principles to their children "Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (NIV). “ Simply stated, we are to constantly and consistently train our children in what is right, wherever we are and in whatever we are doing. This would certainly include the many hours children spend in school. In other words, every Christian family should have the conviction and the opportunity to give their children a Christian education.

How important it is to be exposed to the Bible throughout one's day, to memorize Scripture, and experience daily morning devotions! Again these serve to set the moral focus for our children.

Each aspect of Christian education should be an extension of Biblical principles. These principles should all work for one common goal: teaching and training young people to be more like Christ. In Proverbs 1:7, the Bible states "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." Thus, being taught to respect and honor God, sets the course for acquiring other forms of knowledge.

To teach we must present knowledge. While presenting much academic knowledge, the Christian curriculum also includes Scripture and directs the student in many character-building principles.

To train implies not only the presenting of knowledge but the practicing of that knowledge. In Proverbs 22:6, the Bible reads, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

In conclusion, an educational institution providing quality instruction and producing productive citizens should not have to abandon its moral principals and, as it were, convert to public, to receive governmental financial support, especially since the institution does help the government perform its constitutional mandate of providing free education to every Surinamese child.

1. Suriname (formerly also known as Dutch Guiana) is situated on the North East coast of South America.

2. The Moravian Church or Herrnhuter Brüdergemeinde is an evangelical Protestant denomination. Its religious heritage began in 1457 in Kunvald, Bohemia (modern Czech Republic). Its official name is Unitas Fratrum meaning Unity of the Brethren (not to be confused with the small Unity of the Brethren church based in Texas). It is also occasionally referred to as the Bohemian Brethren. It places a high premium on Christian unity, personal piety, missions and music.