LOW-LEVEL OF EDUCATION IN ZONGOS: MUSLIMS ASKED TO WAKEUP

It is an open secret that abject poverty and high illiteracy rate are the commonest characteristics that exist in predominantly Muslim settlements popularly known as Zongos throughout Ghana, with women and girls being the most affected. 

Although there were no official statistics to buttress these claims, the situation was glaring for anyone to see as soon as he/she visits any Zongo Community in any part of the country. Poor sanitation, dilapidated homes, drug associated crimes among other features, speak in volumes as compared to other suburbs of the country.    

Zangbalun Bomahe-Naa Alhassan Issahaku Amadu

But this long standing phenomenon, according to the Northern Regional Director of the National Population Council, Zangbalun Bomahe-Naa Alhassan Issahaku Amadu, runs contrary to the dictates of religious precepts as contained in the Holy Quran and the Haddiths which encourage both male and female to seek knowledge even if it is far away in the East (China). 

Speaking at a day’s Regional Forum on Promoting the Rights of the Girl-Child to Quality Education organized by Dawa Academy in Tamale, he admonished believers of Islam to avoid misinterpreting the religious injunction in the name of their failing social responsibilities.

According to Zangbalun Bomahe-Naa, the wakeup call was on individuals and family units to strive hard to enroll, retain, support and track performance of their children in schools. “Men should wakeup from their deep sleep and support women to support children’s education”, he stressed.

Illiteracy and education, he said, were two contrasting faces of Ghana that the nation must deal with simultaneously in its policies and programmes to enhance the quality of human resources for accelerated development. “Unless illiteracy is rapidly reduced, the target of becoming a middle income country by 2015 will be a mirage”, he warned, emphasizing that “Support for quality education is every body’s duty, not GES alone. Parents primary role is paramount and must be executed totally.”

According to the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey Report of 2008, 21% of Ghanaian women aged 15 – 49 and 13% of men aged 15 – 49 have no formal education respectively. Only 4% of women and 8% of men have more than secondary education. Overall, 63% of women aged 15 – 49 and 77% of men aged 15 – 49 are literates. The report however, reveals that 48.4% of males and 65.7% of females in the Northern Region have no formal education at all. Similarly, 74.1% of women and 55.4% of men in the region cannot read at all in English language, pegging the region as the least performing in terms of education in Ghana.

Thus, Dawa Academy, an Islamic non-governmental organization based in the Northern Region took it upon itself to advocate for positive change especially in Muslim Communities where the right of women and girls to education was being trampled upon. The organization currently operates in Tamale Metropolis, Yendi Municipality, Central Gonja, Gushegu and West Mamprusi Districts. It advocates for the rights of women and girls, their empowerment through education and livelihood ventures, among others.

Under the theme: “Educating the girl-child for nation development: a Muslim religious precepts”, the objective of the Tamale forum was among others, to create a platform for learning, sharing experiences and collating information as impetus for clearly building on the outcomes/results of programmes carried out in the aforementioned districts.

Alhaji Abdulai Yahaya Iddrisu, a representative of the Northern Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES) in a keynote address, decried that there was low standard in education in the English and Arabic Schools in the area. “It is an open secret that the contact hours in these schools are short compared to the others. Supervision by headteachers and the Unit Managers is poor”, he disclosed.

He appealed to stakeholders to monitor teaching and learning in these schools so as to make educational outcomes positive in these schools. “For all you know teachers in these schools do not have their children in them because of the poor standard”, he hinted.

Alhaji Yahaya Iddrisu therefore advised Muslims who had attained greater heights in life, especially through education to do well to mentor the youth. “By this, more Muslims youth, especially the girl-child, would appreciate the need to work hard in order to achieve their ultimate goals.”

He noted that quality education was the greatest legacy parents could easily bequeath to their children, and urged parents to sacrifice a little for the future of their children. “Parents should therefore constantly monitor their children and also inculcate in them a high sense of discipline. Let us also make strenuous efforts to ensure that the girl-child is given special attention in the areas of education and guidance and counseling”, Alhaji Iddrisu preached.