Minister warns against sexual abuse of pupils

Tamale, July 6, GNA - Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister of Women and Children's Affairs has warned proprietors and instructors of educational institutions not to take advantage of the female pupils in their care to sexually exploit them.

"I will not hesitate to report such characters to the education authorities to take the necessary disciplinary action against them", she said. Hajia Mahama gave the warning in a speech read on her behalf at the inauguration of the National Council for Islamic Education Unit (NCIEU) in Tamale on Saturday.

Sheikh Ibrahim Basha Bayan is the Chairman of the eleven-member council. The Minister said it was time the Muslim community changed their perception about girl-child education, adding that, the communities should ensure that all their children were sent to school. She said the government had initiated a number of interventions such as the capitation grant, the school feeding programme and the free bus ride for the pupils to enhance quality education delivery and urged parents to take advantage of these to educate their children.

Mr. Samuel Bannerman-Mensah, Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) in a speech read for him, noted that with the revival of the Islamic Education Unit, there was the need for a change to reflect changing needs and current trends in the education front. He said, for example, the membership of the Council should be expanded to include not only the proprietors of the Islamic schools but also Muslims of certain professional backgrounds and other stakeholders. "This would help prevent undue monopoly and control of Muslim education and promote the sharing of varied experiences," he said. Mr. Bannerman-Mensah said the government alone could not provide for all the infrastructure needs of educational institutions and urged the NCIEU to help improve upon educational infrastructure in their schools. The Director-General said it was possible for the NCIEU to put up more basic and second cycle schools to absorb the increasing number of children of school-going age, especially the girl-child, to complement government's efforts.

The Council should also advocate for comprehensive Arabic/Islamic syllabuses to be used in all Islamic schools. Hajia Fati Seidu, General Manager of the Islamic Education Unit, said the lack of vehicle was impacting negatively on the supervision of schools in the Unit. "None of the 10 Regional Offices of the Unit has a vehicle or other means of transport and this is seriously affecting work and communication between the regions," she said. 06 July 08