Former Deputy Information Minister under the National Democratic Congress in the John Dramani Mahama Administration Felix Kwakye Ofosu has waded into the debate surrounding the refusal of Achimota Schoo to admit two Rastafarians keeping dreadlocks.
In his view, the claims that admitting the students would lower the standards of discipline is flawed.
”Any argument that admitting such an astonishingly brilliant boy would somehow undermine discipline or lower standards at Achimota because of his hair, which he wears only on religious grounds, is simply not sustainable.”
According to him, ”No publicly funded school should be allowed to hold such prejudice and deny a Ghanaian student who has met the academic criteria, admission. It is blatantly discriminatory.
Also, the Christianization of publicly funded schools must cease. Government funds schools in Ghana to provide relevant education for all, not Christian education.”
Read the full opinion below
Any argument that admitting such an astonishingly brilliant boy would somehow undermine discipline or lower standards at Achimota because of his hair, which he wears only on religious grounds, is simply not sustainable.
It should be a privilege for any school to have such a prodigious student.
The current brouhaha is based more on prejudice than the preservation of any standards.
No publicly funded school should be allowed to hold such prejudice and deny a Ghanaian student who has met the academic criteria, admission. It is blatantly discriminatory.
Also, the Christianization of publicly funded schools must cease. Government funds schools in Ghana to provide relevant education for all, not Christian education.
People of all religious persuasions must gain admission once they meet the objective academic criteria and should not be compelled to worship in a faith they do not subscribe to. That is what progressive societies who are far better off than us do.
Christian-based organizations should of course be allowed to establish and run schools and insist on Christian worship by all students. There, it would be a matter of choice for students who opt to attend such schools and they will be obliged to comply.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com
