Islamic Education Unit in Upper West holds anniversary

Wa, Nov. 17, GNA – The Islamic Education Unit in the Upper West Region has celebrated its 25th anniversary with a call on Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and School Management Committees (SMCs) to initiate an infrastructure management system.   Alhaji Duogu Yakubu, the Wa Municipal Chief Executive, who made the call, said such a system would complement government’s efforts by making sure that school structures were repaired on regular basis to prevent them from complete breakdown.   Having placed education as their topmost priority in the Municipality, he said, the Assembly had set in motion the provision of decent classroom infrastructure including the provision of furniture in many of the communities.   He noted that society was coming under increasing attack from foreign influences and most of the country’s youths were falling to such temptation and attributed the trend to a receding parental responsibility regarding proper upbringing in the Muslim way.   “These and many other vices serve as a wake-up call on Muslim clerics, Islamic spiritual and moral instructors to ensure this negative debilitating development is nipped in the bud”. Alhaji Yakubu emphasized the need for Muslims to train their youngsters to be law abiding, virtuous and responsible citizens who would be able to handle the mantle of leadership in the future.   The anniversary, which had the theme: “Islamic Education Unit in 25 challenges and the way forward” gave an opportunity for the stakeholders to reflect on how far they had gone in their quest to blend secular education with moral and spiritual Islamic instruction.   Other activities undertaken during the celebration, which started on November 9th, included clean-up campaign by staff and pupils of the Unit, peace walk in Wa, an inter-school debate at the Senior High School level and a soccer competition at the Wa Police Park.   Alhaji Salih Nurideen, Upper West Regional Manager of the Unit, said the Unit was set up in 1987 to provide quality and holistic education to Muslim children in particular and the general public.   He said it had committed itself to inculcating Islamic spiritual and moral values into the youth as well as developing their knowledge and skills in other areas of study.   The Unit since its inception in the region with 18 schools had increased easy access of children in Muslim communities to secular education and could now boast of 107 schools.   Alhaji Nurideen said lack of transport to undertake effective monitoring of their schools in the region and the absence of administrative grants, which had been in arrears since January this year, were serious challenges hindering their performance   GNA... Read Full Story