Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has said Ghana needs to focus on real issues confronting its educational system over minor issues.
According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ghana’s focus on its educational system must not be on religious doctrines or the hairstyles worn by students.
Speaking at the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School (PRESEC-Legon) 87th Speech and Prize-Giving Day on Saturday, November 29, Ablakwa stated, “Instead of focusing on how strict religious doctrines are being enforced in our schools, and the weird correlation between short hair and disciplined students, it is time to ponder over the real issues”.
“Why is our educational system producing graduates who criminally create thousands of ghosts to fleece the state when real human beings are looking for jobs? Why is our educational system producing graduates who destroy our environment, pollute our river bodies, and create a public health crisis for the rest of us just to advance their greedy, galamsey search for gold? Why is our educational system producing graduates who lack ethical leadership?
He added, “Why is our educational system producing graduates who commit Ghana to unconscionable transactions? Why is our educational system producing lutocratic graduates who want so much for themselves and don’t care about the country they lead and the generations coming after them? To me, with all due respect, these are the weightier matters that is why I agree with Albert Einstein when he proclaimed that ‘true religion is real living, living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and righteousness,’”.
The brouhaha follows a Ghanaian lawyer and PhD candidate, Shafic Osman, at the London School of Economics, who sued Wesley Girls’ Senior High School and the Government at the Supreme Court.
The case filed cited Wesley Girls’ restricting Muslim students from wearing the hijab, fasting during Ramadan, and practising other aspects of their faith.
Shafic Osman argued that a public school cannot lawfully restrict the religious rights of Muslim students nor compel them to practise a faith they do not subscribe to.
Meanwhile, Haruna Iddrisu, the Education Minister, speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, emphasised that the rights of every Ghanaian child must be respected and protected.
He stated, “There is some ongoing debate on restrictions on Muslim students in Wesley Girls, which conflicts with international human rights standards and even standards expected of us in Ghana’s Constitution and under Article 33(5) and 26(1) of the Constitution.
“We have a duty to uphold the rights of every Ghanaian child and to uphold the rights of every Ghanaian citizen. No right is divisible. We will not countenance any action by any person to deny any Ghanaian girl the opportunity to practice any religion,” he said.
Also, there was a social media debate regarding Senior High School (SHS) students cutting their long hair before reporting to school.
However, Haruna Iddrisu boldly declared, they will not tolerate long hair today or tomorrow in SHS.
He highlighted that if long hairs are accepted in schools, tomorrow it will be shoes the next day the uniforms students wear in SHS.
Speaking to patrons of the 75th anniversary of Mawuli School in the Volta Region, Haruna Iddrisu stated, “There is an ongoing debate on social media about haircuts and the size and length of hair in secondary school.
We will not tolerate it today; we will not tolerate it tomorrow in so long as we are moulding character. If we give in to hair today, tomorrow it will be shoes, and the next day it will be the way they dress”.
He added, “Therefore, as part of our disciplinary measures, headmasters and GES, you are therefore empowered to take full control of how students behave on your campuses.
Anybody who thinks your child will walk into any institution of learning as if that child forgives my words—were to attend a beauty contest, the school environment is not for that purpose and is not cut for that purpose and will not tolerate that as an institution,” he stated.
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