Following the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, revelation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between mission schools amid the SHS-Religion brouhaha, the document has surfaced.
Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi revealed that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between all major religious groups, including Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, SDAs, and even the Police Service, on how religious tolerance should be handled in schools.
According to the Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Catholics will not abandon their principles so that every religion is practised, adding that when a Catholic child goes to a Muslim or Presbyterian school, they must also respect that school’s rules.
The MoU, which was agreed and adopted by Government-Assisted and Private Mission Schools and validated on April 15, 2024.
Parts of the MOU read, “The schools shall state that no student is forced to select/choose a school against their will, hence the said student must be abreast with the culture, values, ethos, and the rules and regulations of the school of choice.
“… Rules and regulations of the schools should be made readily available and accessible to the general public. Pupils/students, parents, and guardians should be taken through orientation on all rules and regulations, including fasting, religious place of worship, and dress code”.
It added, “On the issue of fasting, students should be allowed to fast; however, permission should be sought by parents/guardians from school authorities, and requisite counselling provided before the period of fast commences. Students will, however, abide by all school rules and regulations. Any health-related effects of the fast, on the other hand, are not the school’s responsibility”.
“Only the prescribed uniform and/or mode of dressing of the particular mission-based school must be respected, and parents together with their wards must abide by the given directives.”
The debate has been ignited following Dominic Ayine, Attorney General and Minister for Justice, responding to a legal challenge over religious rules at Wesley Girls’ Senior High School (SHS).
According to the Attorney General, Wesley Girls is not a public school in the ordinary sense. It is a school owned by the Methodist Church but managed and funded by the government of Ghana.
in December 2024, Shafic Osman, a Ghanaian lawyer and PhD candidate at the London School of Economics, 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.
He grounded his case in the Constitution and international human rights principles, arguing that Wesley Girls’ rules violate Ghana’s constitutional protections for religious freedom.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has ordered the Wesley Girls Senior High School to formally respond to allegations that it prevents Muslim students from practising their religion in the school.
See the full document below:
