Muslim students are not allowed to hold leadership positions at Wesley Girls

A former Chief Director of the Ministry of Health and former Chairman of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Lepowura Alhaji M.N.D Jawula, and four others have petition the National Peace Council over what they described as violation of the right of Muslim students at the Wesley Girl High School in the Central Region.

According to them, Muslim students in the school were not only deprived their religious rights but also disadvantaged in holding leadership positions including perfectionships.

The petition dated September 27, sighted by GhanaPlus.com and signed by Alhaji Jawula and the four others was addressed to 32 institutions, state and non-governmental organizations in the country.

“We wish to petition your council on pertinent matters pending before you on the above subject”.

“A Muslim father, Mr. Ismail Zakarra Alhassan got a complaint from his daughter at Wesley Girls’ High School to the effect that the school does not allow her to fast. As a result, on 26th April 2021 he drove from Accra to Cape Coast to withdraw his ward from the school. The incident led to condemnation from the general public culminating in a directive contained in a press release dated 4th May 2021 from the Ghana Education Service (GES) to the school authorities to allow the Muslim students to fast”.

“The GES directive was followed by a reaction from the Methodist Church Ghana in a press release dated 4th May 2021 in which the leadership of the Methodist Church stated that the Methodist Church took “strong exception to the directive given” in the GES press release. Several organisations and individuals waded into the matter by reason of which the National Peace Council eventually stepped in to find an amicable resolution to the issue”

“From the discussions that followed, it emerged that the issue at Wesley Girls’ High School was not merely about preventing Muslim students at the school from fasting, but as a matter of fact, the constitutionally guaranteed religious rights of Muslim students are entirely curtailed in the school. The Muslim students at the school are not allowed to: prepare for and perform their five (5) mandatory daily prayers, hold leadership roles in the school including but not limited to prefectship, have their religious scripture (the Holy Qur’an) with them in the school, exercise their constitutional right to associate with other Muslim students in the school, and take Islamically, appropriate dresses (such as veils/ hijabs) with them for prayers in the school. Indeed, Muslim students of Wesley Girls’ High School are not merely subjected to gross discrimination at all levels at the school, but they also suffer bullying/targeting by other students/prefects, housemistresses, school chaplain and teachers. They are also compelled to attend mandatory Christian Church services, a faith they do not subscribe to” portion of the petition reads.

The petition added as parents, old girls and concerned Muslims of Ghana, they were worried of the fate of their children and their religious right, especially, with the onset of another Muslim month of fasting.

Expedite the process of putting the regulations on school faith practices

They are therefore calling on the National Peace Council to as a matter of urgency to expedite the process of putting the regulations on school faith practices being worked on into effect in the interest of national peace, harmony and security.

“We have been informed about regulations/subsidiary legislation on school faith practices being worked on. Much as we think this is a laudable move, we believe there is the urgent need not only to broaden the stakeholders’ consultation, but also to expedite the process of putting the regulations into effect in the interest of national peace, harmony and security,” the petition said.

At the moment, the final year SHS students are writing their final exams, and one cannot imagine the impact the denial of the religious rights of Muslim students in Wesley Girls’ High School is having on the Muslim students at the school. It is our prayer that the above-mentioned regulations and or legislation would be communicated to the “public in the shortest possible time,” it added.

Jawula petition