Educate Both Boys And Girls - Muslim Parents Advised

The 8th annual congress of the National Council of the Islamic Education Unit has taken place in Tamale with a call on Muslim parents to give equal educational opportunities to all their children, whether boys or girls.

The National Chairman of the Council, Shaikh Ibrahim Basha, who made the call, said Islam had given equal opportunities to both boys and girls in their quest for and pursuit of knowledge, adding that it was inexcusable for parents and guardians to put the

girl-child at a disadvantage in her attempt to aspire to higher heights.

“Education is a civic right of every Ghanaian child and this has been unconditionally endorsed by Islam since time immemorial,” he noted.

He said the Islamic Education Unit had managed to project itself by producing students of equal match and competence in almost every field of study available in Ghanaian institutions.

He said a draft document which would serve as common syllabus for Arabic and Islamic Studies for all schools under the unit had been developed to cater for the lack of universal and uniform syllabus that had existed in the unit for so long.

He believed the common syllabus would give meaning to the drive towards ensuring that educational authorities organised a common Arabic Language examination nationwide.

The Council Chairman appealed to the government to increase the number of newly recruited Arabic instructors to fill in the gap created by retirement, resignations and death of some Arabic instructors.

The General Manager of the Islamic Education Unit, Halid Baba Yahaya, stressed the importance of Religious and Moral Education in moulding the destiny of children by saying that responsible future leaders could never be raised without sound moral education.

He said the unit prepared children for life and the hereafter, adding that the destiny of many Muslim youth had been shaped by the unit and they were contributing immensely to the development of the country.

The Northern Regional Director of Education, Mrs Elizabeth De-Souza, expressed concern about the poor performance of students in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), due to weak supervision.

She called for a new mindset on the part of stakeholders to address the situation.

She equally called on Muslim parents to make sacrifices towards the future of their children by showing more interest in their education.

The director noted that some children put up acts indiscipline these days and said the situation was having a toll on their academic performance.

The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, Mr San Nasamu Asabigi, asked religious bodies to be bold to point out the mistakes of politicians.

He expressed worry that often when issues of electoral violence were mentioned, the names of Muslim youth cropped up and asked Muslim parents to train their wards to eschew violence.