Students abandon school over Ramadan in the Ashanti Region

Islamic schools within the Asokore Mampong municipality of the Ashanti Region are recording low turnout as a result of the Ramadan fast.

Educational authorities in the area are worried the trend will affect academic activities since pupils abandon the classrooms and stay home during the month-long fast.

Asokore Mampong Municipal Education Director Monica Ankrah raised the concern in an interview with Class News’ regional correspondent Hafiz Tijani on the sidelines of a stakeholder engagement with the Minister for Inner City and Zongo Development, Boniface Abubakar Saddique, in the municipality on Friday, 16 June 2017.

She called on other stakeholders to help put measures in place to end the trend which has persisted for long.

“Honestly speaking, during the Ramadan festivities, sometimes it takes weeks before the children will come to school, and they slaughter animals in the classrooms. So, I’m appealing to them to stop all those things… We’ve told teachers to introduce some activities that will involve the children so that during…Ramadan…, the children will be in school like staging a play of the Prophet Mohammed. “If the children know they are to be part of the programme, they will be in school and we can invite parents to come and cheer them on,” she stated.

The low patronage in her opinion “is going to affect academic work”, adding: “Sometimes when you get to the class, not even a single child is there but the teachers are there and it’s so demoralising.”