Arabic teachers told to stop religious indoctrination

Wa, Aug. 8, GNA - Mr. Duogu Yakubu, Wa Municipal Chief Executive, has advised Arabic teachers not to indoctrinate their pupils with any religious doctrines or other biases.

He said the national education policy forbids a teacher or school to indoctrinate pupils.

He reminded them that they owed the nation a duty to ensure that the children under their care grew up as good citizens.

Therefore, they should provide rooms in the school programme for the children to understand what is good in their individual lives and in their lives with others.

Mr. Yakubu gave the advice at a capacity building workshop organised for more than 80 Arabic Teachers in the Wa Municipality, at the weekend.

He said moral behaviour such as honesty, humility, courage, sympathy and consideration for others should be nurtured in children without attaching them to any religious creed.

Additionally, respect for authority, love of one's neighbour, endurance and patience should be taught.

Mr. Yakubu, however, said there was the need to continuously educate the children on the value of the National Pledge so as to imbue in them a sense of patriotism and commitment to the national cause.

On moral training, he said, that should be a shared responsibility not only between the teacher and the parent but also the society as a whole.

Mr. Yakubu pointed out that moral training and moral discipline constituted the cornerstone of human life and if 93our children are well taught moral values and discipline we stand the greater chance of reversing the moral decadence that plague our society".

Mr. Yakubu noted that secular education, under which English and Arabic Schools operate, had succeeded in moulding children to fit properly into modern society.

He, therefore, advised Arabic teachers to avoid the strict Arabic school discipline because that may not be the best prescription for present day children in view of the increasing awareness levels on human rights issues.

Naa Danyagre Walamani, Chief of Takaili, in the Wa West District, who was the guest speaker, noted that education as an institution would suffer defects without religious and moral training.

He pointed out academic excellence could only be achieved if there was sound religious and moral training in the schools.

Naa Walamani said a person is admitted to be trained as a teacher based on the approval of his or her moral records by the person's community.

The Islamic Education Unit, with the Educational Development Fund for Muslim Youth and Wa Muslim Community, organised the workshop to improve the skills and knowledge of the teachers on modern methods and teaching techniques.

The forum was on the theme: 93Religious and moral training; bedrock for academic excellence."

The teachers were taken through topics on: 93Classroom Management, an Effective Tool for Lesson Delivery; Effective Lesson Notes Preparation, Easy Writing and Comprehension and others.