Maintain Religious Traditions and Practices in Parochial Institutions

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can't take it, don't enroll 10 years ago

You will be a better Minister of Education. People turn to forget they were not forced to enroll in those schools and as such, must go by their rules. You don't come to my home and tell me you want to squat on my sofa instead ...
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You will be a better Minister of Education. People turn to forget they were not forced to enroll in those schools and as such, must go by their rules. You don't come to my home and tell me you want to squat on my sofa instead of sitting. You want freedom, go to a public school. Try going into a Mosque with your shoes on and I can bet, you will receive an instant gratification of pain.
USMAN 10 years ago

Because the IGP is a muslim, muslims in Ghana have taken advatage to misbehave and in cases like as it happened in Atebubu where they caused arson, the IGP allowed them to go scot free. Islam cannot survive without political/ ...
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Because the IGP is a muslim, muslims in Ghana have taken advatage to misbehave and in cases like as it happened in Atebubu where they caused arson, the IGP allowed them to go scot free. Islam cannot survive without political/government intervention. That is how feeble and cheap that religion is.
Muslims want Ghana government to sponsor Hajj operations. Muslims always want government to build their mosques for them. This happened in Bolga in 2009 when the Muslims there thretened Mark Woyongo to build their mosque for them because they claim the NDC used muslim votes to come to power. In year 2000, the muslim community in Ghana threatened mayhem if the Ghana Statistical Service does not massage census figures to make Muslims look majority in Ghana. The question then is, is the Muslim god so feeble and cheap that he always wants government assistance to survive.
ADJOA WANGARA 10 years ago

This is a debate where the subtle mind francis kwarteng has no tincture of idea, because there is nothing to copy from somebody and paste as his argument.

This is a debate where the subtle mind francis kwarteng has no tincture of idea, because there is nothing to copy from somebody and paste as his argument.
Ben 10 years ago

You must be making a legend of this man Kwarteng.Every time Kwarteng,Kwarteng,Kwarteng,he must be a great man indeed,I envy him.

You must be making a legend of this man Kwarteng.Every time Kwarteng,Kwarteng,Kwarteng,he must be a great man indeed,I envy him.
GIDEON ATONGO 10 years ago

The Christian community must resist any attempt by Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey from using the state to restrict our religious freedom, while at the same time promote Islam. The muslim agitations are w ...
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The Christian community must resist any attempt by Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey from using the state to restrict our religious freedom, while at the same time promote Islam. The muslim agitations are well plan and coordinated by these countries who do not believe in freedom of religion themselves. They are instigating muslims to agitate through their local agents while at the same time lobbying the Mahama government to grant muslims their demands.
The question for those citing the constitution as the basis for muslims to be given unrestricted freedom to practice their religion anywhere in the country is that what happens if they begin to demand that they be allowed to be governed under the sharia which is also their religious right as currently done in Nigeria where sharia is the law in muslim dominant states?
Military Man 10 years ago

Let them send their kids to their Islamic schools if they have issue with Catholic schools or any other Christian school.

They should have known the schools' requirements and expectations when they enrolled their kids... ...
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Let them send their kids to their Islamic schools if they have issue with Catholic schools or any other Christian school.

They should have known the schools' requirements and expectations when they enrolled their kids... so why are they now complaining?

In my days, I had a lot of moslem(muslim) classmates in my Christian missionary school and every single one of them took part in our early morning masses before start of classes.
My moslem (muslim) friends' parents never complained. They were happy that their kids were getting quality education. Most of all, the kids were happy in the school....so what has changed?

That's how those schools are run.

So unless the Islamic zealots can offer something better for their kids in their Islamic schools, they should just shut up and let the missionary schools do what they have been doing for decades..... that is providing some of the best education for Ghanaian kids over the years irrespective of one's creed.

Nobody forced these Islamic parents at gun point to enroll their kids in the Christian schools so they can pull their kids out if they don't like it.

It's that simple.
USMAN 10 years ago

Muslims always quote Ghana's Constitution to buttress their fight for freedom of worship but they forget that the same constitution also stipulates that education shall be free and compulsory for all children at school going ...
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Muslims always quote Ghana's Constitution to buttress their fight for freedom of worship but they forget that the same constitution also stipulates that education shall be free and compulsory for all children at school going age. Now all Kayayes are teenagers at school going age who work under the most dehumanizing conditions and it will interest Ghanaians to know that all Kayayes are Muslims from the north. Why are Muslims not putting pressure on Prez Mahama,a northerner, to bundle all of them into the classroom up north, since education is free up over there, instead of fighting for a freedom which does not exist.
Close Observer 10 years ago

''We have been vice presidents for far too long, it is time you make ONE OF YOUR OWN President.'' John Mahama.

WHAT ARE THE REST OF US TO JOHN MAHAMA?

THE USELESS NDC IS TURNING ONE TRIBE AGAINST ANOTHER
TURNING ONE RE ...
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''We have been vice presidents for far too long, it is time you make ONE OF YOUR OWN President.'' John Mahama.

WHAT ARE THE REST OF US TO JOHN MAHAMA?

THE USELESS NDC IS TURNING ONE TRIBE AGAINST ANOTHER
TURNING ONE RELIGION AGAINST ANOTHER
THERE WAS EVEN AN ATTEMPT BY ATTA MILLS TO poison football clubs with politics just for the SELFISH INTEREST of the USELESS NDC PARTY.
Everything that units us as a peaceful nation is under attack by the USELESS NDC PARTY. Before they divide Ghana and leave us in shreds VOTE THE USELESS NDC PARTY OUT IN 2016.
We have lived peacefully without any TRIBAL OR RELIGIOUS POLITICS before the USELESS NDC PARTY WAS FORMED and their manifesto signed with blood. We don't need any division in Ghana. WE ARE INTER-MARRIED, AND WE ARE ONE PEOPLE. NDC IS DANGEROUS, VOTE THEM OUT IN 2016.
(GB3M3I KOME TOO DZI WO. GAM3I NY3KA NYI3AA AM3S33. NDC NFEE NY3 BULUU, NI AM3 NSHI NY3 Y3 OHIA MLI.)
An advice from a sensible GA who can read through the lines.
Felix Kwabla Amuzu 10 years ago

Why now? Well spoken.President Mahama seems to be confused
Mr President, do you know that the period for free Education in the North had elapsed?

Why now? Well spoken.President Mahama seems to be confused
Mr President, do you know that the period for free Education in the North had elapsed?
GOLD COAST 10 years ago

Sarfo is just beating about the bush with his jumbled and circumlocutory analysis.At the time most of these mission schools were established,the present Constitution was not in force. As long as the government funds these sch ...
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Sarfo is just beating about the bush with his jumbled and circumlocutory analysis.At the time most of these mission schools were established,the present Constitution was not in force. As long as the government funds these schools - whether mission or secular - it is its responsibility to enforce all the freedoms entailed in the Constitution.Time and things change,so must the mission schools adjust to these changes.We are not in the 1800s - this is 2015.Bet you if the challenge goes all the way to the Supreme Court,the Government will win hands down.

Sarfo,who recently got out of law school should stop parading here as if he's the only lawyer in town.And by the way,he should stop calling himself "Dr.",as American lawyers don't use that prefix - not even Pres. Obama( a former law professor),and U.S. Supreme Court Justices.

PEACE

LONTO-BOY 10 years ago

@GOLD COAST. In this context, I'm sure the Supreme Court will likely consider and uphold the autonomy rights of the Mission Schools. Mission Schools have a constitutionally guaranteed right to reasonable autonomy as a matter ...
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@GOLD COAST. In this context, I'm sure the Supreme Court will likely consider and uphold the autonomy rights of the Mission Schools. Mission Schools have a constitutionally guaranteed right to reasonable autonomy as a matter of convention in Ghana. That is why they've established education units.

Basically, the focus of your argument is on the state-funding of the Mission Schools. By arrangement, the Churches[Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, Methodist, etc.] set up their schools, while the Government either partly or fully fund them. This arrangement do not in itself make the Mission Schools Public/Government schools. There is a fundamental distinction between Mission Schools and Public/Government schools regardless of the State-funding agreement.

Now, the question is : Will the Government nationalise or close down the Mission Schools if they fail to respect an unfavourable directive/outcome? Of course, this Government or any other Government will be treading in dangerous waters to go down that route.

Again, another question is : Why do Muslims who don't want to be exposed religious aspects attend Mission Schools? Why bother? If you choose to attend or enrol in Mission Schools, it means you voluntarily wish to go through and conform to the School's instructions, requirements, and religious aspects.

What is right is what works. That's why Mission Schools in Ghana are largely academically successful.
C.Y, ANDY-K 10 years ago

I am sorry your arguments are just as mischievous and porous as the original.
Times have changed and what was wrong must be put right.

Andy-K

I am sorry your arguments are just as mischievous and porous as the original.
Times have changed and what was wrong must be put right.

Andy-K
Israel Jude 10 years ago

You must be so foolish so as to rely only on this constitution to argue your case on this issue. The 1992 constitution has not abrogated all previous ones.

You must be so foolish so as to rely only on this constitution to argue your case on this issue. The 1992 constitution has not abrogated all previous ones.
USMAN 10 years ago

The Quran quotes Allah as saying that Jihad is, in fact not just a religious duty but a profitable commerce, a business. (Sura 61:10-12). In the Hadith, Mishkat ‘ul Masabih, Jihad is said to be: “............the best meth ...
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The Quran quotes Allah as saying that Jihad is, in fact not just a religious duty but a profitable commerce, a business. (Sura 61:10-12). In the Hadith, Mishkat ‘ul Masabih, Jihad is said to be: “............the best method of earning (blessings) both spiritual and temporal. If victory is won, there is enormous booty of a country, which cannot be equated to any other source of income. If there is defeat or death, there is everlasting paradise....”
badag 10 years ago

The writer of this article has hit the nail on the head. very insightful

The writer of this article has hit the nail on the head. very insightful
LONTO-BOY 10 years ago

Thank you, Dr SAS. This is a reasonable perspective. A well-informed piece of common sense and irresistible logic. Religious devotion is intrinsic to and inseparable from Mission schools.

The Government's statements and at ...
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Thank you, Dr SAS. This is a reasonable perspective. A well-informed piece of common sense and irresistible logic. Religious devotion is intrinsic to and inseparable from Mission schools.

The Government's statements and attempts to intimidate the Heads of the Mission schools were unwise.

Mission schools have their sufficient autonomy rights, religious character, traditions, values and ethos that should be respected, protected and preserved.
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 10 years ago

I just e-mailed a copy of article to Ghanaweb on the same subject. It's interesting how my introductory paragraph is very similar to yours.

Dr SAS, you made very strong, compelling and objective arguments on this subject. ...
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I just e-mailed a copy of article to Ghanaweb on the same subject. It's interesting how my introductory paragraph is very similar to yours.

Dr SAS, you made very strong, compelling and objective arguments on this subject. I have taken another area of the law (the right to religious freedom) That, this right is qualified and not absolute. Ghana is in danger of assuming that the right is absolute and to allow some members of certain faiths to practise their own kind of Islam under the guise of unqualified right to the freedom of religion.

Regrading Christian or religious schools and public funding, it's not necessary for the state to add any conditions to funding because the state has the obligation to educate its citizens. Here in the UK, there are similar religious aided schools (primary and secondary). They make their own admission criteria and are independent of the local education authority, yet the state provides the same level of funding per child as in other state controlled schools without any conditions.

Again, as far as I can remember from my school days in Ghana, I attended state controlled primary school before going to Catholic Boys' Secondary Schools. Though the primary school I attended in rural Ghana was not Christian controlled and there were Muslim pupils, we all recited the Lord's Prayer every day. We were taught the story of creation from the Bible snag Christians hymns and went to school Monday to Friday and no Muslim children or parents complained about that. Of course I agree that society has changed but why disturb the peaceful coexistence of different faiths in schools as previous by pandering the the demands of some misguided fundamentalists? I believe that these demands have everything to do with radicalisation of Islam in Ghana more than freedom of religion and Ghana must be careful.
C.Y, ANDY-K 10 years ago

Kofi, unlike you, I think Dr SAS arguments are rather porous, in addition to your contribution here.

First, it wasn't Rawlings that introduced the assisting of missions schools. As a matter of historical fact, the CPP unde ...
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Kofi, unlike you, I think Dr SAS arguments are rather porous, in addition to your contribution here.

First, it wasn't Rawlings that introduced the assisting of missions schools. As a matter of historical fact, the CPP under Nkrumah did that. Even as a child, I remember that it was pure taking over of the mission schools, with govt solely responsible for their funding and upkeep. Whatever extra the churches put in were/are regarded as private support from thereafter. "Mission schools" are therefore not independent, private institutions but just as public owned institutions like the ones built by the govts. The fact that the govt allows the churches to continue to attach priests to them and to continue their religious practices could be considered as anomaly long over due for redress. The present govt is therefore right in sending out those directives.

The Constitution supersedes all entities in the country,including the religious bodies. The Const. does not to specify the things listed by SAS in detail before we know that it is implied in the clear text. Nobody is saying the mission schools or any other shouldn't hold morning devotions. What is being said is that nobody, esp. non-Christians, should be forced to forced to participate in them, and failing that, be punished.

I asserted that right for myself long ago, and forcefully when in Lower 6 at Mawuli School, a mission founded school, in the mid-70s. I was one of a handful of students who refused to be caned for not attending morning devotion, and dared anyone to try to dismiss or suspend me. The whole of Ghana would have heard of me by then. Luckily, the school authorities were saved by the aluta over the undersize "borbor" - red-red - the folliwng weekend, with grievances linked to the caning, as the C'ttee set up to investigate the aluta found out.

So, to hell with anyone with the infernal, closed-minded, backward, reactionary, intolerant notions of forcing people who are not Christians to attend Christian devotional services because that was the case in the past! My sec. schl before I went to Mawuli did do that, and I don't think Mawuli forced Muslims to worship in a Christian manner. Even if the Const. said so, there is a need to amend that and remove the noxious clause, or re-interpret it in another way to change the const'nal interpretation, as K.C. Wheare's classic pointed out as one way consts change. Well, Dr. SAS is a lawyer and so I don't expect him to know this. Political science trumps law, you know?

Andy-K
C.Y, ANDY-K 10 years ago

I disagree. Read my short interjection below.

Andy-K

I disagree. Read my short interjection below.

Andy-K
Isaac (Rev. Fr.) 10 years ago

Thank you Dr. Sarfo for throwing light on the issue. Your contribution is authoritative, clear and coherent, and above all, legally strong.

Thank you Dr. Sarfo for throwing light on the issue. Your contribution is authoritative, clear and coherent, and above all, legally strong.

C.Y, ANDY-K 10 years ago

His arguments are porous and misleading.
How much are the churches contributing towards the running and upkeep of the so-called mission schools?

Andy-K

His arguments are porous and misleading.
How much are the churches contributing towards the running and upkeep of the so-called mission schools?

Andy-K

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Maintain Religious Traditions and Practices in Parochial Institutions

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