Wa, July 13, GNA - Alhaji Amidu Sulemana, the Upper West Regional Minister, has called on all Muslims across the country to pay special attention to the education of the girl child and desist from only seeing them as housewives.

He said even though a lot of progress had been made in recent years, there was still more to be done especially to check dropout rate amongst females which seemed to be linked to early marriages.

'Our young ladies, I believe will have even better and more respectable marriages if they are well educated and we must not deny them the opportunity', he said.

Alhaji Sulemana was speaking during the launch of the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Islamic Education Unit on Thursday in Wa under the theme: '25 years of Existence of the Islamic Education Unit: Challenges and the Way forward'.

The Regional Minister said the introduction of the Islamic Education Unit had made a meaningful impact on the education of Muslims in particular and the society in general.

Alhaji Sulemana said circular education had become very important and urged all Muslims to push ahead for their children to acquire circular education.

He said the government had demonstrated its commitment to enhance education by empowering schools through infrastructure development.

He stated that about 80% of projects undertaken by government in the region was in the area of education and appealed to authorities of the Islamic Education Unit to set bench marks and ensure effective supervision at all levels to ensure that teachers give off their best.

Mr. Halid Baba Yahaya, the General Manager of Islamic Education Unit, said the Unit was established in 1987 to provide opportunity for Muslim communities to gain easy access to circular education as well as intensify girl child education in their schools.

It was also established to enhance the success of the government's policy of Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) as well as facilitate the integration of Quranic Schools into the formal Ghanaian Education delivery system.

Mr. Yahaya said in spite of the late entrance of the Islamic Education Unit into the Ghanaian Education delivery system, the Unit currently had a total of 1,876 basic schools nationwide.

Alhaji Nurideen Sualih, the Upper West Regional Manager of the Islamic Education Unit said the celebration of the 25th Anniversary was to offer them the opportunity to take stock of their achievements and find a way forward in addressing their challenges.

GNA