Government to consider Islamic University College of Education next year – Zongo Minister
The Minister for Zongo and Inner Cities Development, Dr. Mustapha Abdul Hamid says the next NPP government will consider building an Islamic University College of Education.
The Minister’s comment was in reaction to an appeal by the leadership of the Eastern Regional Council of Muslims to government to establish an Islamic University College of Education in Donkokrom.
President of the Council, Sarkin Zongo of Kibi, Alhaji Umar Abubakar at a consultative meeting of the council on peaceful elections held in Kibi last weekend, made the appeal on behalf of his colleagues.
According to Alhaji Umar, the Islamic University College of Education will produce quality human resource, which will blend western and Islamic education.
Currently many of Islamic schools are struggling to get professional teachers to teach both circular and Islamic subjects.
The Minister for Zongo and Inner Cities Development, Dr. Abdul-Hamid Mustapha, who was the guest of honour, promised to refer the request to the government through the Office of the Vice President of the Republic, Dr. Alhaji Mahamud Bawumiah for consideration.
Dr. Hamid said the NPP government was already committed to advancing education, especially in Zongo communities and referred to the party’s 2020 manifesto, which has promised to build 16 new model Islamic Senior High Schools (SHS) in the Zongos across the 16 regions.
He added that It would be prudent to have higher institution of learning such as colleges and universities to accommodate future graduates of the model schools.
An opinion leader and a private businessman, Alhaji Ismail Abdul-Karim, a resident of Koforidua, was full of praise for the Muslim leadership in the region and commended them for making education a priority.
He reiterated: “Islam placed a high value on education, and, as the faith spread among diverse people, education became an important channel through which to create a universal and cohesive social order.”
According to Alhaji Abdul-Karim, the Islamic University College of Education in the region which is already under construction is an initiative of the Ghana Muslim Mission adopted by Muslims in the region.
Currently, the project is being sponsored through the collective efforts of all central mosques through Friday donations which is woefully inadequate.
