Government to provide scholarships for brilliant but needy Muslim students

The Government will provide scholarships for brilliant but needy Muslim students to study in higher education both locally and abroad, especially in areas of medicine and engineering.

President John Dramani Mahama made the announcement in his remarks when he and Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang joined the Muslim community to break their fast (Iftar) at the Presidency in Accra. The President said by investing in education, the Government was investing in the future of the Muslim communities, ensuring that the next generation was well equipped to contribute to national development.

President Mahama said education was central to their resetting agenda as they believe that a nation could only develop when its people were empowered with knowledge and skills. “We have integrated Islamic schools into the mainstream education system to ensure that Muslim children receive quality education without compromising their religious identity,” he said. “We will construct community-based senior high schools in Muslim-dominated areas to increase access to secondary education.”

He noted that there were several programmes the Government was rolling out, and that they expected that the youth in the Muslim communities would participate. “We’re rolling out entrepreneurship and skills training programmes to help young people start and sustain businesses,” the President said. “This is called the Edwumawura Programme, and it will train and provide capital for 10,000 young people every year, and it is my hope that most of our Muslim youth will take advantage of this.”

He said they were going to facilitate access to microfinance support for small businesses in the Muslim communities and Zongos, which was under the “Soyaaya” Fund, and that it was a cardinal promise in the NDC ‘s manifesto. The President said they were also going to invest in small-scale industries and local enterprises to create sustainable jobs and economic opportunities; which were agribusiness, poultry-rearing, and all other income-generating projects. He said unemployment was a national challenge, but they were committed to ensuring that no Ghanaian was left behind in their national recovery efforts.

Touching on health, President Mahama said good health was the foundation of a productive society, and so as part of their resetting agenda, they were going to expand healthcare facilities in underserved Zongo and Muslim communities. He said they were going to upgrade existing hospitals and clinics in these communities to improve service delivery. The President said they were going to provide primary field pre-healthcare, especially targeting deprived communities, and that they shall introduce mobile clinics to provide healthcare to these communities.

He noted that the Government would expand the livelihood empowerment programme to cover poor households in our Muslim communities; saying “we believe that healthcare should not be a privilege for the right”. The President said the resetting agenda was about building a Ghana that works for everyone, and therefore their promise was to strengthen the Zongo Development Fund, ensuring that it was properly structured and efficiently managed for real impact.

He said they would expand support for Islamic Education and religious institutions, ensuring that Muslims had the resources they need for both spiritual and academic growth. He said in this regard, the Government was in talks with the Ghana Muslim Mission to absorb their new College of Education; and that so that they would have two Muslim Colleges of Education, Alpha Rook and the Ghana Muslim Mission College of Education, so that they would train more Islamic teachers.

President Mahama said the Government would also continue to promote interfaith harmony and national unity, reinforcing peace and stability that Ghana was known for. “As we partake in this iftar meal, let us remember that Ramadan teaches us patience, sacrifice and compassion, values that are essential in our collective effort to reset and rebuild our country,” President Mahama said. “I urge all of us to continue praying for Ghana.”

On his part, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, the National Chief Imam, who expressed gratitude to Allah for the peace of the nation, also prayed for the President that Allah would grant him the grace to carry out his agenda, which inure to the benefit of Ghanaians.

Source: GNA