Ghana: Jawula Fumes Over Worship Restriction for Muslim Students

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Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit: Peace FM Ghana
By Daily Guide | November 7, 2014

The Lepowura, Alhaji Nurudeen Jawula, is fuming over what he regards as the deliberate policy of some schools, especially those in the Central Region, to deny Muslim students the opportunity to practice their faith.

“I have received credible information about how some schools are compelling Muslim students to go to church while simultaneously denying them the opportunity to pray as demanded of their faith as Muslims,” the one-time Chief Director of many years standing told DAILY GUIDE yesterday in reaction to what he further described as an unacceptable situation.

This is not a policy of the government and any school head found acting this way should be sanctioned because it is inconsistent with the spirit of the constitution of the Republic of Ghana, he said.

Recalling his school days at the former Government Secondary School, now Tamale Senior High School, he said “as school prefect in those days I led Christian worship sessions but that did not stop me from worshipping as a Muslim. Even in my civil service days I used to lead both Christian and Muslim prayers at public functions. I have benefitted greatly from the liberal policy which operated in the school I attended. I expect school heads to be mindful about how they deal with what by all standards is a delicate subject.”

He was emphatic about a particular girls’ school in the Central Region, whose headmistress is noted for the aberration.

“I intend taking up this issue with the Ghana Education Service (GIS) with a view to addressing the aberration,” he said.

He expressed optimism that the challenge would receive positive reception by the higher authorities who he said might not be in the know.

The Lepowura said that there are a few men of God in the Christian faith, who attended TI Ahmadiyya Senior High School in Kumasi and today hold important positions in their churches, one of whom is in charge of the Accra chapter of the church.

Many Muslim parents have complained about their wards not being allowed to pray as Muslims but rather compelled to attend church, something they find anomalous.

While some of such parents have kept the problem to themselves, others have voiced out their disdain for what they see as a violation of the constitutional right of the children.

In one of such schools in the Central Region, it was an item on a PTA meeting but it appears not to have been adequately addressed.

The tendency for students, who insist on praying, suffering victimisation in such schools is a challenge which must be addressed, a concerned parent added his voice to the Lepowura’s voice in a telephone chat on the subject.






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