Guidelines on administration of pre-tertiary schools out soon — Attorney-General
The Attorney-General (A-G) and Minister of Justice, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, has said the government will soon come up with guidelines to regulate the administration of mission schools with respect to religious beliefs and practices of other faith groups.
He said it formed part of measures to resolve the seeming religious intolerance in some senior high schools (SHS) in the country.
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According to him, the rules would be made by the Ghana Education Service (GES), per the power vested in it under the Pre-tertiary Education Act, which allows it to make rules for all SHSs in the country.
Mr Dame also said the guidelines would be anchored on respect for and tolerance of religious beliefs, as well as ensure justice, equality and non-discrimination, in line with the country’s secular and democratic tenets, as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.
“The Pre-tertiary Education Act vests the GES with the responsibility to come up with regulations governing the conduct of education and students in SHSs. I will lead the effort by the government to ensure that these rules have all the principles, as stipulated in the Constitution,” he said.
Event
The principal legal advisor to the government was speaking at the residence of the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, in Accra yesterday.
His presence was in response to an invitation by Sheikh Sharubutu for a discussion of the alleged decision by the Wesley Girls’ High School not to allow Muslim students to fast in the school.
Mr Dame was accompanied by Justice Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu, a Justice of the Supreme Court; Mrs Helen Ziwu, the Solicitor-General; Ms Yvonne Bannerman, a Senior State Attorney, and Mr Musa Ahmad, a lawyer and member of the Muslim Lawyers Forum of Ghana.
Commitment
The A-G also assured the Chief Imam that the government was fully committed to religious freedom, adding that it would not engage in acts that curtailed the religious rights of people.
Ghana, he said, was a secular state and, therefore, the government had no business dictating the religion one practised or promoting one religion over another.
“In the spirit of secularism, what the state can do is assist various religions to express or manifest their religious beliefs freely and without any inhibition at all,” he said.
He commended the Chief Imam for his relentless effort at fostering tolerance and promoting peace in the country.
Gratitude to God
The Chief Imam asked the people to be grateful to God for allowing peace to prevail in the country.
He said Ghana must make it a priority to preserve the peace and not engage in any act that would create tension or violence.
“Tolerance, respect and equality are all steps that contribute to the prevailing peace in this country. Many countries have no peace; but look at us, we are living in harmony. Let us know that this is a special favour from God,” Sheikh Sharubutu added.
Wesley Girls’ claim
The authorities of Wesley Girls have explained that the no-fasting policy was made on health grounds and not based on religious beliefs.
That explanation has, however, received a lot of backlash from the Muslim community and some civil rights advocates.
On the other hand, the Methodist Church, which founded the school, and some Christian groups have supported the stance of the school.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, during the Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations last Thursday, called for calm and tolerance and urged religious bodies not to turn their schools into ideological fighting grounds.
