WESLEY GIRLS RUCKUS — RETURN MISSION SCHOOLS TO THE CHURCHES For more than a decade, faith-based organizations have called on successive governments to return the management of mission schools to them. Before the state took over, the churches were doing well in the management of their schools. To quickly add, the takeover wasn’t absolute after continuous dialogue. A reason for which state-sponsored public schools do not carry same conventions as mission schools. Public funding cannot in anyway, based on all factors, erase the conventions, principles, doctrines and strategies upon which those faith-based schools were established. Aside erecting the schools with the widow’s might (collections) of the church members (which you do not give a dime to), they equally pay taxes same as you. Indirectly, those members of the churches are paying twice (collections for construction of schools and health facilities, and taxes) to see the running of those schools. I want you to know that, no organization invests with the intention to incur loses. Never! Besides, there are equally excelling public schools among the lots for people to choose from. As President Mahama assured the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) in run-up to the 2024 elections in September, he should re-consider the idea to hand-over mission schools to the churches. It is not like the churches are incapable, the state forcefully took over those schools before later coming onboard to engage the faith-based organizations. Now is the time to re-open dialogue, one that expels ambiguity and state clearer plans for the return of the mission schools. Time to bury the recuring kerfuffle is now. The churches have been ready for their schools and the wait must be over.

This GeyHey case is quite sensitive for obvious reasons, but in true fidelity to the law, the likes of Achimota School, which is a fully fledged government institution, cannot be viewed as similarly situated with Wesley Girls and other mission schools. Schools in the latter category are government assisted. Do I agree that public schools should not entertain religious restrictions? Yes, absolutely. The only issue here is that these are not exactly public schools. The fact that a school receives funding from the state does not alter its fundamental character. What we may be losing sight of is that the establishment of these mission schools is itself an expression of the institutions’ Article 21 rights. Perhaps it is time for the state to acknowledge how much we have failed as a nation. We should have enough fully public schools, and good ones too. It is perfectly fine if you disagree with me. I understand how sensitive this matter is, but if you are willing to dig deeper, please look up the First Amendment Establishment Clause for comparative purposes. There is a long list of U.S. Supreme Court cases that affirm how constitutional it is for religious institutions to teach their doctrine to the exclusion of others. Of course, our context is peculiar. For example, some students are posted to these schools and do not always choose to go there. In light of this, the state, in its broader mandate to uphold secular governance, should allow students to reject such postings on religious grounds. The state should also commit to building more public schools and elevating them to the same standard as these now prestigious mission schools. Beyond these reservations, the state cannot secularize mission schools simply because they receive public funding on a non discriminatory basis. Doing so would amount to an unwarranted curtailment of the Article 21 rights of these religious bodies.

The use of the word ‘PREVENT’ in this context is what my problem is..how does the concept of secularism enshrined in our constitution not apply here in a publicly funded institution? Someone please explain because I don’t understand..

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Happy Sunday from church in kwara guide yourself..... No wait for security

So, I don’t get why people are saying Ghanaians are wrong for pushing this man as a typical representation of our likeness and our image. Wait, is the other guy a typical representation of us at all? Be honest to yourselves. Does he in anyway behave like a typical Ghanaian?

BREAKING: The Tamale High Court has ordered a rerun of the Parliamentary Election in the Kpandai Constituency currently occupied by NPPs Matthew Nyindam. The NDC Parliamentary Candidate filed an election petition after the 2024 election. Matthew Nyindam has an option to appeal.

Something very interesting is going on today. Back 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. His argument was very simple: 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. But today the Attorney General has taken a very different position. According to the AG, 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. The State funds it, yes, but that funding does not strip the school of its right to preserve its ownership and Methodist character. The AG argues that Ghana’s entire education history supports this view. Mission schools existed long before independence, they were formally recognised and classified as assisted schools under colonial ordinances, and even after independence they were integrated into the public system without losing their foundational identity. Under today’s governing law, faith-based schools are explicitly recognised as unique institutions within the public system. They enter formal agreements with the GES, maintain representation at the national level and are legally acknowledged as faith-based bodies. Wesley Girls therefore, in the AG’s view, remains a Methodist mission school that receives government support but retains its right to practise and promote its religion. So the real question before the court is no longer just about fasting or prayer. It is about the status of mission schools in Ghana’s constitutional order. Are they public schools bound to absolute religious neutrality or faith-based institutions with protected identities even within the public education framework? What the court decides will redefine the relationship between the State, religion and education in Ghana for years to come. Stat tune. Credit: The Law Platform Hubert Tieku Esq